All Little Less Conversation When The Sun Sets Can Break Your Heart
by Jameson Like The Whiskey
Summary: The Dandies are causing trouble in Chicago, two girls are hired to stop them once and for all. In the end, everyone gets more than they bargained for. But even that isn't how it seems, as the vampires' illusions and deceitful ablities put the girls' friendship to the ultimate test. Beckett/OC. Written with MarshmallowPiggs.
1. A Little Less One

**A Little Less Conversation, A Little More Action, Please!**

"_It's been a lifetime, a lifetime we waited for._

_A simple question, kid, "Are you with me or not at all?"_

"Hey…are you doing anything this weekend Rae?"

"Ah! Jeezus, AJ, don't scare me like that!" The five foot three brunette scolded her friend, who only laughed and shrugged.

"It's not my fault you're so easy to scare." She added; a hand reaching up to brush her blonde highlighted red hair out of her hazel eyes.

"No, I'm not…why...wait a minute...you get us another job offer?"

Adeline Jeanette smiled, "Maybe...maybe not. Guess you'll just have to show up to find out."

Amelia rolled her eyes, "Can't you just tell me?"

"Where's the fun in that? You're a demon, you're supposed to like screwing with people, messing with their minds and such. I'm just...well, not to quote Princess Leia, but, I do turn into a walking carpet once every month because I can't control it. Other times, I can, but...then I'm too busy ripping stuff to shreds and howling at the moon to worry about having fun. Know what I mean?"

"Yeah...when Illshya takes over, I'm not me...it's like I'm someone else. Well, technically I am. It's really funny because no-one ever believes me when I talk about it unless they catch me when she's in control."

Both laughed, before Adeline added, "But seriously, what fun would it be if I told you? Part of the fun is waiting...even though waiting for things like Christmas and summer vacation totally sucks most of the time."

"Just tell me already!" Amelia pouted, and AJ simply laughed at her.

*note: Amelia's conversations with Illshya will be in italics*

_"Hush, child. You will find out soon enough," scolded a voice from inside Amelia's head._  
><em>"I know, my lady, but I really just want to know! We haven't had many jobs lately," Amelia replied.<em>

Seeing as AJ wouldn't tell her a thing, Amelia had no choice but to wait patiently until Saturday night when Adeline texted her an address in Southern coastal California, near the beach, which meant there'd be all the more distractions to tempt the girls. Between the hot boys playing volleyball shirtless on the beach to the bonfires and surfing, how was one supposed to do their job?

"AJ? AJ! Focus! I know we're in California, but that doesn't mean you can just skip off and trying to flirt with the first hot guy you see! We have a job to do!"

"See I'd be saying that, but...5!" She yelled, smiling.

"What's with the random number?"

"That's not a random num- 6!- ber. I'm counting how many hot guys I see before we manage to kill our target. Who is it this time, anyways?"

"I thought you knew. Dangit, AJ, will you focus?" Amelia yelled.

This brought her friend back down to earth, which Amelia was grateful for.

"Well, according to the boss, some vampires have been terrorizing beachgoers, and he wanted us to check it out," Adeline said as she scoured the beach for more hot boys. To her dismay,there weren't any.

"Vampires? On a beach? Unless they're daywalkers, this is going to be so easy...okay, I see what you mean...check out the two by the ice cream cart.."

Adeline turned, just as one of the boys began walking towards her. He had brown hair, and his eyes looked hazel. Wast it her imagination, or did he look like James Maslow? She shook her head, just as the boy walked into her, not noticing she was there.

"Hey...oh, you two are new around here! Since the recent attacks, not many girls come down to this beach anymore...you two surf?"

Adeline giggled, she was right, this boy did have an uncanny resemblance to the singer in one of her favorite bands.

"No, we're here on business." Amelia cut in, not wanting to see Adeline fall for another guy when they'd be leaving the next day.

"What kind of business? You two aren't looking for company, are you? Just so happens my girlfriend's out of town for the weekend, and my friend's single..."

"No thanks, it's not that type of thing." Amelia said curtly, motioning for Adeline to start walking away.

"Are you sure? Because I know," he started looking right at Adeline, "a lycan like you wouldn't lie about her true intentions."

Amelia and AJ's eyes both widened, realizing what he'd said. The boy knew Adeline was a werewolf, but she hadn't said anything. Adeline turned back to the boy, "How do you know?"

"Well, let's see...the reason girls don't come to this beach much? Me...my boys and I tend to make a mess, so we normally wait down by the local bar until closing time, but being able to walk in the sun brings so many other opportunities..." he trailed off, absentmindedly licking his lips.  
>He leaned in toward Adeline, who instinctively back up, causing him to laugh.<p>

"For a lycan, you don't seem to carry their normal stench. Perhaps you prefer to stay in your human form more so than its alternative?"

Looking to Amelia, sensing the 'keep him talking so I can kill him' message she was trying to send, Adeline nodded.

"So why are you and your friends hanging around here?" Amelia asked, glancing wearily to the ice cream cart, where the boy's friend was still standing.

"We grew tired of hunting in North Western US...think Forks, think Twilight. It's like that. It's not fun going after the girls when all they think is that you're going to be Edward to her Bella. So we moved to change the scene, as well as the prey."

"Cool story, bro, tell it again," Adeline said as Amelia reached into her pocket for her gun.

"I don't think so," said a voice from behind her. Amelia whirled around and was confronted by the boy's friend who had been near the ice cream cart.

Amelia drew her gun and pointed it at the vampire. Next to her, Adeline drew her own weapons.

"Ooh, girls with weapons. Like I'm really scared of a lycan and her mortal friend," mocked the James Maslow look-alike.

Now it was Amelia's turn to laugh.

"A mortal? That's all you think I am? Well, you've got another thing coming," Amelia declared.  
>With lightning fast speed, she ran behind his friend, pinned him to the ground, and pressed the gun to his back.<p>

"You're fast. Who the hell are you?" asked the vampire as he struggled to get free.  
>"The name is Illshya, and don't you dare forget it," she replied as she fired her gun into his back. The bullets were a special type, filled with holy water. The vampire immediately disintegrated in front of her.<p>

"Nice...one down," AJ said as she turned around facing the look-a-like, the special pocket knife she always carried ready, "One to go. Goodbye. Nice meeting you, though." she added with a perky grin as she stabbed the small blade into the vampire's chest, near where his heart would be. Well, this blade was special - it had been forged in France, by the lycan elders, desperate to protect their children. A blade this small was compact enough for a child to carry, should she be confronted by a vampire. And being as the knife itself was soaked in holy water during its cooling period, the device was definitely equip to take down vampires should the need ever arise. Beside Adeline, Amelia fired her gun a single time just to thoroughly kill the vampire, and then smiled at AJ as she put it back in its holster.

"Well, that was easy. Just like I thought."


	2. A Little Less 2

Adeline sighed, "I wish the boss would give us harder jobs once in a while...this is way too easy, day after day. And how come the cute vampire is always the one we have to kill?"

"AJ, you're just saying that because this one was. Not every vampire we kill is good looking."

"Yeah, but...but did you not realize who this one looked like?" she whined, pouting.

"Yeah, that guy from that one band you can't shut up about...right?" Amelia said vaguely, trying to piss AJ off.

"Yes! Big Time Rush! The hot one! How many times do I have to-" she noticed Amelia was smirking. Great. Now would come the comment that would start the flood.

"AJ, he's married. Give. It. Up. You know he has a kid, right?It's a moot point." she said, grinning as AJ's eyes widened in mock-disbelief.

"Thanks...wreck more dreams for me, will ya?And for your information, I knew that already...Now, if you'd excuse me, I'd like to mourn the death, by our hands, of a hot vampire."

"Actually you killed the one you're talking about. And you do know you sound absolutely and certifiably insane right now, right? Come on, we'll find you a new guy to drool over. You switch who you like in bands every few months anyways..."Amelia tried, getting Adeline to crack a smile at least.

Adeline sighed, "Yeah...you're right. And besides, he only looked like him...if that had been the real one?THAT would be a tragedy." she added laughing as the two began walking in towards the city, looking for somewhere to eat.

Just as the pair were about to enter an Applebee's, Amelia's cell phone rang.

"Who is it?" AJ asked curiously.

"I dunno...should I answer? Looks like an Illinois area code number."Amelia replied.

"Could be the boss...answer it!"

"Hello?" answered Amelia uncertainly.

"Hi, is this Amelia Clearwater?" asked a male voice on the other end.

"Yes, this is she. May I ask who this is and how you got this number?"

"Hi, my name is Patrick Stump. I got your number from one of my colleagues in California. I understand that you and your friend run a business; an assassination business," he started.

"Yes, that's true," Amelia replied.

"Well, my friends and I are vampire hunters, based out in the Midwest, specifically Chicago, Illinois. Lately, we've been having a problem with a particular gang of vampires," he continued.

"Who is it?" AJ interjected.

Amelia took the phone from her ear and said, "It's a business call." She then put it on speaker phone.

"Okay, so you guys are having trouble with some vampires. Who are they?" Amelia asked as a waitress came around with their drinks.

"The Dandies," he said.

Amelia almost choked on the water she was drinking.

"The Dandies? Are you kidding me?" she asked incredulously.

"I wish I was, but I'm not. My team and I have been trying to take them down for months, but we can't land a single hit. We heard about you and your friend and from what I understand, you two are the best in the business."

Amelia blushed slightly, not used to being complimented like that.

"And we could really use some help. Would you two even consider coming out to help us?" Patrick asked, his voice hopeful.

Amelia looked at Adeline, who was staring at her, mouth agape.

"Well, what do you say, AJ?" Amelia asked.

"Hell yeah! Let's go!" she yelled.  
>Patrick laughed and said, "Thank you both so much. It really means a lot to us. I'll call you again tomorrow to go over all of the details."<p>

"All right, that sounds fine. Bye," Amelia said as she hung up.

"The Dandies? Seriously? They're like...only the...most...dangerous, most compelling...most...beautiful group of vampires to ever walk the earth..." AJ supplied, causing Amelia to roll her eyes.

"There you go again...it's because they're oh so hot, right? Don't be fooled, though. They're just as dangerous as any of our other jobs."

"Yep...I know it's weird, seeing as we always hear about them and all, but we've never been offered to go after them...what was I saying earlier about the boss giving us harder jobs? Even if this isn't from the boss, it's one I'm totally looking forward to."

"I am too, but we can't rush in to this. We have to prepare. Besides, Patrick didn't even say when he needed us," Amelia said, slightly worried.

"If we got the call, I'm willing to say it's going to be sooner than later. We should probably pack as soon as possible and get ready to fly out to Chicago, I figure I can book a hotel room or something on the plane."

Amelia sighed.

"Must you always be on the move? It's like you don't know how to relax."

Adeline laughed.

"There's two things that are foreign concepts to me, the first being relaxation, the second being sleep."

"How is sleep a foreign concept? You're not a vampire, so it's not like you can't."

"It just doesn't like me...I'm lucky to average two hours a night sometimes..."

"Pffft, whatever. You must not be normal, then. According to my friend Chuck [Comeau], when they aren't on tour, Sebastien sleeps for almost 18 hours at a time," Amelia said while sticking her tongue out.

"Is he a Lycan or a bear?" Adeline laughed

The two girls finished up their meals and went their separate ways, Amelia back to her loft and Adeline to her apartment.

The next day at around 6:00 p.m., Amelia got another phone call from Patrick. He said he wanted to go over the details of the mission with her. She got up from her couch and got a notebook.

"So, do you know anything about the Dandies?" Patrick asked.

"Nothing, other than they have a nasty reputation for being cruel," she replied.

"That is definitely true," Patrick said, laughing before continuing, "We've learned through experience that most of them have some additional power along with the usual vampire stuff. Most times this is in the form of stuff that messes with your mind, and when it's happening to you, sometimes you don't even realize you're being controlled. Last time we ran into them, I had that problem and almost ended up going after my own team."

"So we should just keep a clear head so they can't control us, right?" Amelia asked, pen already writing away, 'Mind control', 'additional psyche abilities'.

"I'd suggest that, yes. And...well, we haven't had any problems since our entire team is guys, but...if you've got any girls going with you...be careful. Last time one of our members brought his girlfriend on the hunt, she...well...let's just say once Beckett's crew got her, we never heard from her again. We all think she's ether dead, or that they brainwashed her into doing their chores or something."

"That's terrible! And I know what you mean, my friend that works with me, her name's AJ, she...I'm worried she's going to get herself killed this time. She just keeps talking about the Dandies like it's a dance and she's got her pick of dates..."

"Don't let her think like that. If she falls for even one of them, you're both in danger. Of course, that's part of their charm though, all of the members seem to have the whole 'make a girl fall in love with me so I can kill her later' thing going for them. Who knows how many women have disappeared over the years because of them? Be extremely careful of the one that's a day walker. By himself, he's not dangerous, he's rather the type that my team figures lures in victims and leads them back to the rest. I've talked to him a few times, but I've never been able to find the right moment to attack, because by then there's some other distraction and he'll slip away."

"Did you ever catch his name?" Amelia asked, writing 'daywalker!' and then underlining it.

"Actually yeah, I did. It's Michael Guy Chislett. He's Australian, there's no way you can miss it because of his accent. Aside from being the only daywalker in the group that we know of, it's also part of the reason we think he's the one that lures the victims. Girls just seem to fall for guys that have accents."

"Great. He's a daywalker, so that means he's already more dangerous, and now I have to worry about being distracted by his accent," Amelia sighed, Patrick had a point. Guys with accents were just...sexy.

"Do you know anything about the other members?"

"Well, the leader is named William Beckett. He's probably the biggest threat, and will be the hardest to take down. He's really strong and his telekinetic powers are out of this world, so be careful. He's also the one who turned my friend Pete, which is why we wanted to destroy him. Also, Brendon Urie, one of Beckett's second in command, is an amazing mentalist. Whatever you do, don't look him in the eyes, or you might never find your way out. Mike Carden, the other right hand man, is also pretty lethal, with or without the rest of them. Don't get caught in a dark alley, or even a well-lit alley with him, for that matter. Other than that, I can't really think of anything else."

"Well, it's a start." Amelia stated, looking over the notes she'd taken. Filling AJ in was going to be easier said then done, with her interrupting every few minutes to add her input on how easy it was going to be to get this done with, along with her wondering which vampire of the group she'd end up falling for. Amelia almost had to laugh, it was like Patrick said, if AJ fell for even one of them, they were dead.

"So you think you and her will be able to handle this?" Patrick asked, as if he was just making sure.

Amelia nodded, "Of course we can. How soon do you need us out by you?"

"Whenever you guys are ready. I would say if possible by this weekend if that's not too soon." he said, and Amelia could almost hear the smile in his voice at the prospect of this entire favor being enacted and revenge for Pete's siring finally being served.

"No, that's no problem at all...AJ is actually buying plane tickets as I speak," Amelia said, smiling as her phone beeped while he was talking, indicating text messages.

"Will you be there to meet us?" Amelia asked.

"Unfortunately, no. My friends and I are currently in a secret location because Beckett drove us from the city. The best I can do is over the phone," Patrick said sheepishly.

"That's fine. Anything else we need to know?"

"Nothing I can think of. When you complete the mission, call me back and we can discuss payment."

"Sounds fine. Thanks, Patrick," Amelia said as she hung up.

She quickly responded to AJ's texts, who said that their plane leaves at 6:00 a.m. the next day.

Before calling AJ, Amelia made one last phone call.

The phone rang three times before a man picked up.

"Hello?" he asked, uncertainly.

"Hi Seb! It's Amelia!" she said.

"Good evening, m'lady. How are you this evening?" he asked politely.

"I'm fine, Seb, thanks. Hey, I have a favor to ask of you."

"Sure, go ahead."

"AJ and I are going on a mission tomorrow and I need you to, uh, "watch my cats" for me while I'm gone."

"Sure thing, Mimi. Where are you guys going and how long are you going to be there?"

"We are going to the Windy City on an official mission, but I don't know how long we will be there."

"Yeah, that's not a problem. I can totally "watch your cats" for you," Sebastien said.

"Thanks, Seb. You're the best!" Amelia said as she hung up.

Everything was beginning to fall in to place for their trip. Amelia could feel the demon growing excited for the trip.

Amelia decided to pack rather light. It was easier to stay on the move that way. She only packed the necessities, which in this case, constituted a change of clothes, a toothbrush, and as many stakes, holy water bullet magazines, UV ray bullets, and other essential tools as she could fit into her various holsters and suitcase. Before settling in to bed, she did some yoga, and set the alarm for 4:30 the next morning.


	3. A Little Less 3

The alarm rang all too soon. Amelia got up and after quick shower and a quick check of her bags, she drove to AJ's house and the two were off to the airport. On the way there, AJ couldn't stop babbling about how excited she was to be going to Chicago and to be able to meet the Dandies.

"Don't forget why we're going there, AJ. We're going there to KILL them, NOT for you to find a new boyfriend," Amelia scolded and AJ pouted.

"It's not my fault that they are all super hot!" she grumbled, and Amelia laughed.

"Yeah, but when we have to kill them, I don't want you to allow them to kill us first because you're being hesitant."

"You really think I'd do that?"

"Well, you never know. Given your current track record, it wouldn't be unheard of."

"Amelia Raven Clearwater, I am completely shocked! I thought you were my friend," AJ said with a fake sob.

"Oh, hush up," Amelia said while sticking her tongue out. "Just don't do anything stupid."

Shortly thereafter, the girls arrived at the LAX airport. They went inside and checked in. At about 5:00, they were able to board the plane. After showing their assassins licenses, the two were cleared for their gear and they boarded the plane. A half hour later, they were in the air, heading from_ LAX to O'Hare._

Adeline was an absolute bundle of energy, and it took everything she had not to howl in excitement. Amelia had suggested against that, saying that it was best not to freak the out the other people on the plane. While AJ was a bundle of excitement, Amelia was a bundle of nerves.

_"What is the problem, my child? You seem uneasy," said the demon in her head._

_"It's nothing, my lady. I'm just worried about this mission. This is the most important, and not to mention, most dangerous mission we've ever gone on. I just don't want to screw this up," Amelia admitted._

_"Do not be afraid, my child. I will be with you the entire time. You will be fine. Besides, if there is any real trouble, Sebastien will get Lucian to intervene. You know that," the demon reassured her._

_"I know, but I can't help but worry. I mean, the Dandies have a freakin' daywalker on their side! We've never gone against anything as strong as that."_

_"That might be true, but you are stronger than that. You would not be the demoness of hell if you couldn't handle it. Believe in yourself, my child, and everything will fall into place," the demon said, and Amelia nodded in agreement._

(Few hours later)  
>"I see the skyline! Is the Sears Tower? I think we're in Chicago! This is gonna be great!" Adeline was talking a mile a minute, and as Amelia looked out the window, she realized her somewhat hyperactive friend was right.<p>

"Yeah, we're in Chicago. Now just calm down. We don't need to draw any more attention to ourselves then necessary."

"And how am I supposed to do that?"

"Say you're excited about anything other then meeting the Dandies." Amelia deadpanned, causing AJ to raise an eyebrow in confusion.

"WAIT! So I can say I'm excited this week because I'm getting an American Girl doll?" AJ squealed.

Amelia face-palmed, sighing in defeat, "Sure. Let's go with that. Just remember, we are here to KILL them. This is not a vacation. This is serious."

AJ nodded, but she still skipped with excitement as she walked to the baggage claim area. When the girls finally managed to get out of the airport, it was about 10:00 in the morning. The first thing that they did was check into a hotel under pseudonyms and they put their suitcases away. After loading up all of the necessary gear, the two decided to walk the streets of Chicago, in order to try to scope out the place.

As Amelia walked the streets, she couldn't help but notice an odd feeling. While it hustled and bustled like any other city, something wasn't right. The streets were full of people, but every one who looked at the two girls automatically looked away if one of them made eye contact. They scurried past them without a word. It was almost like they were afraid of something. She also could not shake the feeling that she was being watched, followed, or both. It was highly unnerving. Amelia shook her head and tried to pretend like she had been paying attention while AJ raved about the cute American Girl doll she had just gotten.

The two stopped to drop off the various things that they had bought at the hotel and were going to go out for dinner. It was about 7:00 at night. The summer air was thick with humidity, and every thing seemed to be going in slow motion. While they sat in the Chinese restaurant and ate their food, AJ finally noticed Amelia's odd behavior.

"Hey, you okay, Rae? You've been acting weird ever since we got here," she noted as she ate some Lo Mein noodles.

"I'm okay, AJ. I just feel a little off. There is something strange about this city, but I can't put my finger on it. Plus, I feel like...like we're being watched," Amelia admitted.

AJ nodded in agreement.

"I know what you mean. I can feel it too. I can't smell anything, but I feel like there's someone here, too," she whispered.

Amelia nodded and the two girls continued to eat. Once they had eaten their fill, the girls walked out of the restaurant. It was now about 8:00 p.m. The air was heavy, and the night was absolutely still. What was even weirder was the fact that the streets, once so busy, were now deserted. The two looked up and down the streets, but there was absolutely no one. All of the shops were dark as well. They started walking in hopes of finding the place where the Dandies lived.

"Amelia, I don't like this. It's quiet out here. Too quiet," Adeline said as she walked beside Amelia.

Amelia nodded. "I agree. Keep your gun out, just in case," Amelia instructed as she drew her gun and cocked it.

For a while, they encountered nothing. No people, no animals. Absolutely nothing. It wasn't until they came to a dead end that they found anyone. AJ automatically started to growl.

"What's wrong?" Amelia asked.

"I sense something. Someone's here. More like a few people," she replied, fangs bared and nose sniffing the air.

Just as she said that, Amelia could sense it too. When they turned around, there was a tall man in a white suit standing about 20 feet away from them.

_"Hola chicas. ¿Cómo están?_" he called.

AJ looked at Amelia in confusion. "Let me handle this, but don't lower your weapon." Amelia instructed as she walked towards the man.

_"Buenos noches, señor. Estamos bien, gracias," she said._

_"Qué bueno! Qué están haciendo?" asked the man._

_"Estamos buscando un hombre. Ud. conoce a William Beckett?" Amelia asked._

_"O sí. Yo conozco a él. Por qué lo están buscando?"_

_"Necesitamos hablar con él."_

_"Entiendo. De dónde son Uds.?"_

_"No somos de aquí. Por favor, Ud. puede decirnos dónde vive William Beckett?"_

_"O sí, les diré. Pero, primero_," he began, "Tell me why you're here!" the man demanded as he grabbed Amelia's wrist and forced her against a wall. AJ growled behind them, but as she was about to jump and attack the man, four other people came out of the shadows and surrounded her.

"I don't have to answer to the likes of you, vampire," Amelia said defiantly.

"Oh really? You think so? And do you know who we are?" asked the man who held Amelia's wrist.

"Some people who are in desperate need of the fashion police?" AJ said with a grin.

After she said that, a tall man with brown hair grabbed her arm and forced her to the ground. She yelped, but trained her gun on him.

"Aw, poor little Lycan. Did I hurt you?" he asked with a grin that bared his fangs.

"Really, Ryland? Let her go," said the man who still had Amelia's wrist in his grip.

"But Gabe!" the man protested.

"I said, let her go. We don't want to scare these girls too badly. Now tell me, _muñequita_, why do you need to talk to Beckett?" the man named Gabe asked.

"None of your damn business," Amelia said simply as she kneed him in the crotch. The man let her go and fell to the ground. Amelia took this opportunity to break away from him and stand back to back with AJ, their guns pointed at the people.

"Now now, _querida_, why did you have to go and do that? We're all friends here. Besides, you don't want to mess with the Cobras," Gabe said as he got back up on his feet.

"Cobras...oohhh...snakes. Big deal." AJ said, rolling her eyes.

"Do you realize lycan like me aren't afraid of snakes? We're not like elephants in which case you'd be mice, but-"

"AJ...shut up...you're not making this situation any better!" Amelia snapped, trying to keep her eyes focused on all of the people surrounding them at once.

"What so do we just do what I think we do?" she asked, irritated.

"Duh. Three?"

"Three."

"What's that 'three' mean? You going to attack or something? Girls, give up, we outnumber you."

"I don't think so." Amelia said, smirking as she aimed and prepared to fire.

"You Cobras feel like meeting my furry friend?" she teased, feeling Illshya starting to want to take over.

"Why not? It's probably a poodle or something since you two seem pretty enough for a big city like this," the one named Ryland sneered.

"Suit yourselves, then. Three, AJ!" Amelia yelled, just as a howled sounded next to her.

Where AJ had been standing moments before, there now was a large she-wolf, her fur dirty blonde, although the tips were russet, her paws and tip of her tail pure white. The she wolf turned to look at Amelia, and Amelia thought she almost saw the lips turn up in a smile before baring their fangs at the vampires around them.

"Oh, it's a big bad wolf...I'm not afraid." he added, laughing.

"Your mistake." Amelia said simply, before whipping around and firing her gun twice into the chest of the vampire closest her as AJ lept forward landing on the one closest to her, her paws holding the vampire down while her mouth aimed for his neck.

The holywater bullets certainly were effective, and from the sickening crack of bone Amelia heard seconds later, it was obvious it worked just as well as claws and down, three to go. Amelia looked at AJ, who turned back around.

"Don't be so slow, sweetheart," another male vampire taunted her, and just as he was about to attack her, AJ lept in front of Amelia, growling.

"Good lycan," Amelia praised as AJ pounced, before turning back to the vampire now in front of her, this one must have tried to sneak up on her.

"Face it...we might be new, but...we know how things work." She said, firing her gun twice, before reloading.

She heard AJ's howl of victory, but then suddenly it cut of abruptly in a whimper. Amelia turned.

The vampire named Gabe had his arms around AJ's neck, and was trying to choke her.

"LET HER GO!" Amelia yelled, expecting the demon to take over at any moment.

"I will...only if you allow me to live. If I die, she dies." Gabe said smirking.

Amelia looked at AJ, the she-wolf's eyes blinked pleading as she forced her paws against the ground, trying to shake him off her. It was no use, the vampire's grip was slowly sapping the strength out of her. Amelia lowered her weapon, starting to walk toward AJ.

She only whimpered as he tightened his grip, eyes still locked on the gun in Amelia's hand.

"Drop it. On the ground. Every weapon you have!"

Amelia nodded, placing the gun down, along with a retractable pocket knife and her swords.

"That's all I have. Now let her go." She said more calmly this time, holding her breath as she watched Gabe begin to loosen his grip to where AJ was able to shake him off of her.

Gabe was sent flying, landing against a nearby wall with a thud. Picking himself up, he watched with a smug grin as Amelia ran to the lycan, still whimpering in pain.

Amelia turned and glared at him.

"She's not hurt. Just scared her a little, that's all." He said sarcastically before flitting off into the night, to find Beckett and warn him that some competition had arrived.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
>"AJ!" Amelia was at the blonde she wolf's side the minute Gabe hit the wall. She watched with wide eyes as the gigantic wolf in front of her turned back into her best friend, who still managed a smile despite what had just happened.<p>

"You okay?"

"Okay? A vampire just choked me! If could have gotten my mouth around his head he wouldn't be laughing right now!" She growled.

"I meant your neck. He had you down pretty tightly."

"Aside from the fact I'm probably bruised? Fine...it'll heal by tomorrow morning, it's a side effect of being a lycan, we tend to heal faster than most supernatural creatures." AJ assured, standing up and stretching, laughing at the expression on Amelia's face when the cracks of AJ's neck and shoulders re-aligning were heard.

"Really? That freaks you out? You should see what I can do with my knuckles...remember that sheet music? Everything I had, I could pretty much figure out. It's all about-"

"AJ...ew." Amelia shuddered.

Sure, beheading vampires and shooting them in the heart didn't phase her, but her best friend cracking her knuckles just gave her the heebie jeebies. As the pair laughed and discussed their strange encounter, they were unaware they were being watched.


	4. A Little Less 4

Sebastien Lefebvre walked quickly down the streets. He had seen the whole fight between the girls and the Cobras. He also saw that some of Beckett's men were following the girls. That was not good. He caught a whiff of the scent of one of the vampires who had been following them and slowed down and went down an alley. Standing at the end of the alley was a vampire, dressed in a posh gentleman's suit, with a derby cap pulled over his brown hair. He was leaning nonchalantly against the wall.

"Urie," Sebastien said, his voice low.

"Sebastien," the vampire said in reply.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Sebastien asked.

"That's funny, I could be asking the same of you. It's also funny how you think you can demand things of me in MY city," he remarked as he pushed off the wall and walked towards Sebastien.

In an instant, Sebastien had him pinned against the wall, his arm pressed against the vampire's throat.

"Two things, Urie. One, this is Beckett's city, not yours, so don't inflate your ego more than it already is. Secondly, leave those two girls alone," he said, his voice quiet, but deadly.

"I'm not scared of you, Sebastien," Brendan said, though the werewolf could smell a small amount of fear.

"I mean it, Urie. Stay the hell away from them."

"And if I don't?" he challenged.

"And if you don't, just remember this: You might have rules about territory and where you can kill, but I don't," Sebastien said as he snapped his fangs at Brendan's neck.

With that, Sebastien let Brendan's body drop to the ground and he walked off. If the Dandies had taken an interest in Lady Illshya and her friend, this was serious. Sebastien was going to need to be better prepared if he was to be of any help. He left the city immediately, and took the first plane back to Montreal.

_'Forgive me, my lady, but I will be back as soon as I can.' he thought sadly as his plane took off._

Meanwhile, Gabe wasted no time in running to William. He moved so fast that he would have been invisible to any mortal. After arriving at the large gated mansion on the hill, he walked up to the gate and pressed the speaker button.

"Who is it?" asked a voice.

"It's Gabe. I need to talk to William," he said.

"Oh hey Gabe, how's it -"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, Sisky, cut the pleasantries crap. I need to talk to William right now! It's serious," Gabe interjected.

"Say no more," Sisky replied and the gate swung open.  
>Gabe rushed inside. When he got to the front door, he threw it open and walked inside.<p>

"Where is he?" Gabe asked, his eyes and nose scanning for any sign of William.

"He's in his office, mate," replied an Australian vampire with blond hair.

Gabe nodded his head in thanks and ran up the stairs. He opened William's office door and announced, "We need to talk."

William, who was sitting at his desk, going over some paperwork, looked up.

"Gabriel Saporta, to what do I owe the pleasure of your company?"

"We've got trouble. Intruders in the city."

"Oh, you mean the girls? Believe me Gabe, I am well aware of them. Mike and Brendan have been following them ever since they left the airport. Trust me, I know when things are amiss in my city," William said, his voice calm and smooth.

"You don't understand, Bill. These girls, they aren't normal mortals. One of them is a Lycan and the other one, I don't even know what she is. She didn't smell human, but she wasn't a Lycan. I could almost sense two personalities coming from her," Gabe explained.

William gave him a look. Gabe was possibly the only person who could call him "Bill", and live.

"Don't worry, Gabe. I've got everything under control. Brendan and Mike -"

"They killed my entire team, Bill. Everyone! Even Victoria," Gabe said quietly.

William gave him another look, one that might have been mistaken for caring. The older vampire might have felt some sort of compassion, had he any regards for the emotions of others, even an ally as close as Gabe. He knew that Gabe had a soft spot for Victoria.

Instead, he asked, "You confronted them?"

Gabe nodded. "Yeah, I did. The girl who had two personalities could speak Spanish and we talked briefly before I asked why they were here. The only thing she told me was that they were looking for you because they needed to talk to you. When I asked her to explain, she refused, so we attacked. But man, it was over before it even began! They took out everyone really quick, almost professional-like. They probably would have killed me too, had I not threatened to kill the Lycan," Gabe finished.

William nodded.

"I understand. The girls will not leave without answering to me. They will pay for what they have done," he said.

As Gabe was about to thank him, William's cell phone rang. Despite living in a lavish Victorian mansion, all of Beckett's men, himself included, were well-adapted to the times.

"Hello? What have you found, Brendan? Oh really? How interesting. Whatever you do, DO NOT engage him. Come home right now," William said as he hung up.

Gabe raised his eyebrows.

"It seems the girls are not my only visitors. Brendan and Mike caught the scent of another Lycan while they were following the girls. It seems Sebastien Lefebvre has decided to pay us a visit," William said, and Gabe stiffened.

Any Lycan in William's city meant trouble, but one like Sebastien Lefebvre was especially dangerous.

"What is Sebastien doing here?"

"I don't know, but I told Brendan and Mike to just leave him alone. The last thing I need is a Lycan of his strength nosing around in my city. Anyway, I am well aware of the problem with the girls, and believe me, they will pay for what they have done."

"Thank you, William," Gabe said as he bowed and walked out.

About ten minutes later, Brendan and Mike walked into the house. The first thing that William noticed was Brendan's smell. He smelled suspiciously like a Lycan. He rubbed his eyes and sighed. He could feel a headache coming on. A few seconds later, Mike and Brendan walked into his office. He beckoned them in, and they stood in front of his desk. William looked at Brendan and simply asked, "Why do you smell like a Lycan?"

At first Brendan didn't answer him, instead choosing to study the ground. Then he mumbled something too garbled for even William's astute ears to pick up.

"Come again?" he asked.

"I said, it's because I confronted Sebastien," Brendan repeated, his head hung low.

"Did he attack you?"

"No, but he threatened me. He told me to leave the girls alone, and that if I didn't, I need only remember that while we have rules about where we can hunt and kill, he doesn't."

William sighed. The last thing he needed was one of Lucian's top Lycans threatening his men.

He walked over to Brendan and look him square in the eye before he suddenly punched him in the face. Brendan, clearly not expecting it, stumbled backwards and held his jaw as blood began to drip down his chin from his busted lip.  
>William grabbed Brendan by the collar of his dress shirt and pulled him close.<p>

"It's such a shame, Brendan. So disobedient for someone who is supposed to be one of my second-in-command," he remarked as he gently stroked Brendan's face with his thumb.  
>"The next time that I give you an order, you are to follow it. Do I make myself clear?" he asked.<p>

Brendan held his gaze for a moment before replying quietly, "Yes, sir."

"Good. You two are dismissed," William said as he shoved Brendan, who bumped lightly into Mike. The two of them filed out of William's office.

As William poured himself a glass of blood, he thought about what had transpired in the last 20 minutes and decided that it had been an interesting night.


	5. A Little Less 5

**Of Hot Aussies and Random Run-ins**

AJ tried not to think about what had just happened. After a run in with another group of vampires, it was obvious the only thing wrong with this city was that it probably was infested with them.

"Hey AJ, are you sure you're alright? You seem a little out of it." Rae said as the two walked back to their hotel, satisfied by the events of the night, each deciding sleep would be the best thing before heading out again tomorrow to see what else they could learn.

"Yeah, fine…I'm just…I don't know why I was so excited about coming here…I think we may have bitten off more than we could chew with this mission," she replied softly, still rubbing her neck.

"Who turned you into Debbie Downer? You were so excited just to possibly meet the Dandies!"

"I'm afraid. I can honestly say I'm afraid. If those vampires, the ones we just ran into…if that's the type of scum that crawl around here at night, that's the low life…and I almost get hurt playing with low level vampires like them...The thought of what the Dandies can do to us scares me even more." She admitted.

"Huh, that so?" Amelia said, surprised. So it seemed the reality of how dangerous the mission was had finally hit AJ.

"I'm serious…well, I think I've realized something, anyways. I can't fall for any one of them. It'd be just my luck to fall under the gaze of one of them, have him say just the right thing, and before you know it, I'm tied down and they're enjoying draining my blood out of me one sweet drop at a time, regardless of the fact that it's not human blood."

Amelia poked AJ.

"Are you still Adeline Jeanette Winters? Who are you and what have you done with my best friend?" Amelia asked jokingly, earning a smile from the younger lycan.

"Oh, I died and became another person while talking to you. I don't like Big Time Rush or Keith Urban or Green Day or-" she noticed the crooked grin on Amelia's face as the girl began to sing.

"Wait, a minute, before you-" AJ cut her off continuing before she could finish the phrase, "Tell me anything, how was your day, cause I've been missing you by my side, yeah…".

There was a slight pause before both girls laughed, "Alright, fine, I'm still me!" AJ laughed as the two walked towards the elevators of their hotel.

"I knew that would work. You never can resist joining in with a BTR song. It's a fail-safe way to identify you." Amelia replied, laughing as well.

"Well, the room's just up ahead. I say we change into pajamas, maybe see if there's anything good on, and then go to bed."

"But ice." AJ protested giggling.

"Ice what?"

"We have to get ice."

"AJ...it's almost 11 at night...you don't need ice."

"You're right, I just like exploring hotels at night, being a lycan has its perks. Sense of smell helps me discover places in hotels I didn't think existed," she countered.

"Come to bed now, or else I'll lock you out and make sure you don't get any sleep tonight." Amelia wagered, causing the ghost of a smile to flit across AJ's face before she pouted.

"But-"

"Bed. You need sleep. I'll let you listen to Worldwide on repeat!" Amelia added, the pout disappearing at once.

"If I start talking in my sleep, don't wake me. That just means I'm in a deep sleep."

"Whatever you say, Mrs. Maslow," Amelia laughed as the two headed into the room for the night.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning, the pair walked out of their hotel into a typical windy Chicago morning.

"I smell coffee and baked goods," AJ remarked as the two headed down the street.

"It's because there's a little cafe at the end of this block. Want to stop, maybe get something to wake us up, maybe sit and pretend to read the news while we scout?"

"Sounds like a plan."

Walking into the small cafe, AJ's nose immediately picked up on burnt coffee grounds and the sweet lingering aroma of cream cheese frosting.

"I'm so getting that." She said absentmindedly, already figuring the scent was leading her to a brownie, rather a plate full of them.

"What?"

"Brownie. with cream cheese frosting. You?"

"Hm...the bagels look really good, and maybe I'll get it with strawberry jam..you getting any coffee?"

AJ nodded and Amelia sighed, "Great...that's the last thing you need right now."

"I know...that's why I'm getting it...oh, hello..." she mumbled softly, and Amelia caught the grin on her face before it disappeared.

"Oh no...you only smile like that if there's a cute guy nearby...where?"

"Sitting by the window. Got sunglasses on his forehead, reading the entertainment section, blonde hair. " She rattled off before adding, "I'm gonna go snag the seat next to him. Order me a medium cafe latte with a shot of caramel and a cream cheese brownie, I'll pay you back later."

And she took off, "O...k." Amelia sighed, shaking her head, great. AJ was already after guys, on the second day in town.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_"Excusez-moi, est-ce que cette place est occupée?" _Adeline asked the blonde sitting near the window, drinking what she detected as a simple decaf with a shot of white mocha.

"No, go ahead. You're new around here, I haven't since you before..." he trailed off, smiling, motioning for her to sit.

AJ did, smiling back. The man had an Australian accent, something she didn't hear often, although when she did, it was impossible for her to resist.

_"Parlez-vous français? Je suis parle anaglais aussi,"_ she said, hoping maybe she'd get the chance to hear an Australian speak French.

"No, sorry...I can understand it spoken and written, but speaking? That's a whole other game." he replied laughing.

Just then Amelia came by at took the chair next to AJ, setting their drinks down along with her bagel and AJ's brownie.

"That looks really good..." AJ said, looking at the brownie, the crazed 'i-need-sugar' look in her eyes.

"I'll bet it is..." Amelia replied, before noticing the man they sat near, "So...AJ, who's your friend?"

"Oh..." AJ paused, looking at the blonde.

"I'm Michael. You two are?" he said, reaching up a hand to brush his long bangs out of his eyes, behind his ear.

"Adeline Jeanette, most people just call me AJ."

"I'm Amelia," Amelia said, lifting her glass of milk up to take a drink. Suddenly, she realized something.

_"His name is Michael, my Lady...and he's Australian...is it possible that-" she asked the demon._  
><em>"My child, if your head tells you something, trust what you believe. If you believe you are in danger, I would leave before anything worse can befall the two of you," the demon replied.<em>  
><em>"But AJ...she's...she's talking to him already...am I too late?" she wondered.<em>  
><em>"You must find out, child."<em>

Coughing at the realization of who the man might be, AJ looked at her worried.

"Amelia, are you alright?"

"Y-yes...wrong pipe. And AJ, I've just rememebered we must be going, we're meeting my brother in ten minutes." she lied, hoping AJ would pick up the hint that they could possibly be in danger.

"What br- oh." AJ said, setting her half-eaten brownie down on the plate.

"Right...well, Michael, we have to go. It was nice meeting you," she said as she held out her hand.

Michael shook it, and almost at once Adeline realized something was off about him. His hand was cold, much colder then a normal human's would be.

"Nice meeting you as well, AJ, Amelia." he said as they turned to leave.

Watching them round the corner, probably to go to traverse the local shops, Michael Guy Chislett lifted his coffee to his lips and smiled. William would be pleased.

The two girls walked quickly out of the bakery and ducked into the nearest shop. Thankfully, it was a book shop. They hid behind a large bookshelf.

"What was that all about, Rae? I was just getting to talk to him," AJ asked, a slight pout forming.

**"**AJ, do you even know who that was?" Amelia asked increduously

"A really hot guy named Michael?" she guessed and Amelia face-palmed.

Amelia took a deep breath in before continuing.

"That may very well be true, but did you notice anything odd about him? How about the fact that he's Australian and his hand was colder than any normal human? Do you know who I think he is?" Amelia asked.

AJ thought for a moment. When the realization hit her, her jaw dropped.

"Daywalker!" she whisper-shouted

Amelia nodded. Just as she was going to say something else, the bell above the store entrance tinkled, meaning someone else had walked into the shop. AJ's head snapped up and she sniffed the air. Amelia's skin bristled.

AJ mouthed the words, "He's here!" and Amelia nodded. This was not good. Neither of them had any major weapons, aside from a few kunai concealed under their jackets. Amelia peaked around the book shelf that they were currently hiding behind. He was standing around the magazine area, thumbing through some guitar magazines. He whistled a tune as he looked through the magazine. As it looked, there was no way for them to leave without him noticing.

Amelia could feel the panic flooding her system. Although she was normally calm when on missions, this was an exception, because this was literally life-or-death. Her heartbeat sped up and her breath came in short, shallow gasps.

_"My child, you need to calm down. You cannot let the fear control you," the demon said firmly._  
><em>"What do you mean, calm down? He's right there! What if he tries to cause trouble?" Amelia thought frantically.<em>  
><em>"Do not worry, child. If need be, I will remedy the situation," the demon declared and Amelia knew she was right. She took another deep breath and turned to look at AJ.<em>

"Are you going to kill me if I just go grab this one guitar magazine? I can be quiet, and I'll be quick about it...I see Billie Joe Armstrong and Slash on the cover of the same magazine, though. I want to read it." AJ said, not realizing she was getting a 'are-you-really-trying-to-get-us-killed' look.

**"**That is completely out of the question," Amelia said, and she meant it.

"Really? Oh come Rae, one page...I'll-"

"You mean this one?"

Amelia and AJ looked up.

Well damn. They'd forgotten a vampire's hearing is about as strong as a wolves's.

"Uh..." AJ looked at Michael, then at the magazine he held.

Seeing Billie Joe on the cover, she seemed to forget the situation the two were involved in and reached for it, grinning.

"Yes, that one. Hey are you-"

The minutes one of her hands had closed around the pages of the magazine, Michael's hand closed around her wrist.

Amelia inwardly sighed.

'Great. We're dead for sure,' she thought to herself.

AJ looked back and fourth between the magazine cover, Amelia, and Michael.

Finally settling her gaze into the incredibly alluring green (although they did seem to have a little hazel in them near the pupil) eyes of the man who held her wrist in a grip she knew was pointless to fight, she smiled and said cheerily, "You're a vampire!"

Beside her, Amelia face-palmed.

"If I am, what's that mean to you? You're only the first one to outright say it to me. You, of course," he started, smiling as he looked at AJ and then Amelia, then back at AJ, "Are no ordinary human yourself. In fact, if I'm right...You're a lycan." he finished, voice in the same cheery tone AJ had used, albeit it was a little more sarcastic.

**"**Yup, sure am. And my friend Amelia over there is really -" she began before Amelia clamped her hand over her mouth.

"-Really regretting bringing you here. Listen, I'm sorry for all of the trouble we've caused you, but I'm afraid we really do need to be going now," Amelia said as she shot a death glare at AJ and tried to pry Michael's hand from AJ's wrist.

"Now, now, what's the hurry? Why don't we go back to my place? We can all talk for a bit," he said with a smile and dammit if that accent wasn't the sexiest thing that either girl had ever heard.

Amelia kept her voice level as she replied, "I don't think so." Then she uttered a word in an ancient demon language and thrust her hand, palm out, towards the vampire. It summoned a gust of wind that knocked the vampire back into the shelf. He also let go of AJ's wrist, and was temporarily dazed by the books that fell on top of him. Amelia took advantage of this by grabbing AJ by the arm and running out of the store.

As he stood up, Michael Guy Chislett smiled to himself. He always loved a good chase.


	6. A Little Less 6

As soon as AJ and Rae left the store, they took off running back to their hotel, making sure this time to grab some of their weapons.

"Did you really have to do that? Save me?" AJ brought up as she handed Amelia her gun, which she took with a nod.

"You're telling me you had rather fallen right into the enemies' trap? He's probably been sent to capture us, bring us to the rest of them."

"But he was hot." AJ added, and Amelia had to admit, she was right.

Did that mean she'd willingly give the mission up and walk right into his waiting arms?

No matter how much her heart wanted to say yes, her head, and the demon, said no.

"So how are we going to get around, now that we know he's probably going to be after us?"

"The same thing we do every time we have a mission, AJ.."

"Try to take over the world?" AJ tried hopefully, causing Amelia to smile at the old 90's cartoon reference.

"No...we try and play it safe, keeping an attentive lookout. And whatever happens, we get back here before nightfall."

"What happens at nightfall?" AJ asked, although she already knew the answer.

"The rest of the Dandies come out to play."

AJ shivered. If they were really as powerful as Patrick had said, they were in for one hell of a fight.

Before they decided to go back out, Amelia tried to call Patrick. Unfortunately, she couldn't get through to him, so she left him a message asking him to call her back. When she looked at the clock, it was almost noon. They still had a long time to go before the sun set.

"Do you really think that it's safe for us to go out?" AJ asked and Amelia shook her head.

"Actually, I think that we should probably stay here, but that's just me," she replied.

"Yeah, you're right," AJ agreed.

"We don't have to stay here the whole time, just long enough to think of a better plan. Now, I think it'd be a good time to get that ice you were talking about last night," Amelia said as she went and got the ice bucket. AJ followed behind her. Just in case, she grabbed her gun and put in the waistband of her ninja outfit.

When she opened the door, they were both met with a surprise. Leaning in the door frame was the Australian vampire from before! How had he managed to escape their preternatural senses, Amelia wasn't sure.

_"Be careful with this one, child. He is incredibly strong. He was able to mask his own scent and it escaped even myself. Proceed with caution,"_ came the voice in her head.

Amelia and AJ both did a double take. They looked from one another, to Michael, and back to each other.

"G'day," Michael said, slow and drawn out.

"W-w-what the hell are you doing here? How did you find us?" Amelia sputtered, her voice raising in pitch with every word.

"Well, it wasn't difficult to do. I know the scents of all the people in this town. You two just happen to stick out like a bunch of sore thumbs. It's not every day we get a Lycan in town. You though, are a mystery to me. I can't quite figure you out, but I'd sure love a taste," he said as he licked his lips.

Amelia gulped. This was _so_ not what she had on her list of things to do today!

She suddenly remembered the gun at her hip. She quickly pulled it out and cocked it, aiming right at the vampire's chest. AJ grabbed her special pocket knife and held it in front of her.

"Now, now, what's that all about? All I want to do is talk," Michael said as he held his hands in a friendly gesture.

"We know about your kind. You guys don't like to talk. All you care about is blood," AJ said.

"No, you shelias have it all wrong. I really do just want to talk to you," he said as he tried to enter the room.

Amelia fired a warning shot at his feet and he stepped back.

"Not a step further, or I'll kill you. Besides, you can't enter the room unless we invite you, and you aren't welcome here," Amelia declared.

He laughed.  
>"You'd think that, wouldn't you? Doesn't matter, mate. I'm patient. I'll wait, and when night falls, I'll bring my friends with me," he said mysteriously as he flitted away.<p>

Once they were sure that he was really gone, Amelia closed the door and sat down on the bed.

For a while, neither of them spoke. Then, all AJ could say was, "Wow."

Amelia nodded. "Wow is right. That's the second time that we could have died. We have to be more careful," she said and AJ agreed. The two stayed in contemplative silence for a long time.

Finally, they decided that it was safe again for them to venture out. This time, though, the girls made sure they had all of their weapons, stakes and bullets of every kind. They walked out of the hotel and decided they would actually look for the Dandies. Patrick had described their place of residence as a large mansion on a hill, impossible to miss.

AJ's senses were on overdrive, keeping a nose out for any sign of the Australian vampire.

They walked down the street, careful to look down every alley and every side street, just in case they came across their Australian friend. They walked for about 10 minutes before Amelia noticed something strange.

"Hey, AJ. Notice anything strange?"

"No, not really. Why?"

"Have you noticed that there are no people? I mean, we've been walking for about 10 minutes and I haven't seen anyone besides us. Now yesterday, there were tons of people around. It's only 12:45. There should be more people out," Amelia said as she stopped and looked around.

"Yeah, you're right. I wonder where they all went?"

"I don't know. Let's keep moving. I don't like this," Amelia declared and AJ nodded.

They walked for another five minutes, when suddenly, Amelia saw it. Looming ahead in the distance was a mansion, a giant remnant of the city in its Victorian era. The girls walked excitedly towards it, but they were careful to keep their distance. It was still relatively quiet and it unnerved them both.

Suddenly, they heard a whoosh and a ring of fire appeared around them, trapping them. A shadow stepped out from their right, and the girls immediately drew their weapons. Once again, it was the Australian vampire.

"Now I've got you shelias right where I want you," he said as he stepped closer.

AJ looked at Amelia.

The only look that passed between the pair was one of complete agreement; there was no getting out of this one. 


	7. A Little Less 7

"_Où sont vos amis? Tu es tout seul..._" AJ taunted Micheal, a hint of flirt buried in her tone.

He laughed, "Now you really think I'd need them when I've got this under control? You two aren't going anywhere anytime soon."

"_Quel dommage...Je voudrais rendre facilement ... si vous n'étiez pas seul." _AJ continued, causing Amelia to elbow her, "Are you trying to give yourself up?"

AJ nodded.

"He's hot. If I can keep him occupied, then you can-"

"Keep me occupied? Little lycan, I admire your courage, but a girl such as yourself stands no match, even if I am alone."

"If I go willingly...well...can we bargain? I will go...only if you promise not to hurt my friend." AJ said smiling, but from the corner of her eye she caught Amelia's horrified head shake.

"AJ, don't!" Amelia said, but AJ had already extended her hand out close to the fire, surprised its heat wasn't as warm as she had expected.

"I suppose that would do. Having both of you would be better, but if I bring a lycan in? Mike will have fun with you, he harbors quite a dislike for your kind. And I'm sure Brendon won't mind the first taste, although most of us are partial to human blood," Micheal mused, thinking over her offer.

Stepping forward he grabbed AJ's hand, and with one soft pull she stood on the other side of the ring of fire, the flickering flames reflecting in her eyes.

_"Voir? Je ne suis pas une mauvaise fille. Je l'écoute. "_ AJ said, still trying to occupy his mind while thinking of a way to get Rae free.

"If you keep your word, I'll keep mine. Drop your weapons." he said, and AJ obeyed, placing her six shot, her knife, the extra round of bullets, and eight shuriken at his feet.

When she looked up, she looked at Micheal with a look she knew would make him rethink even freeing her from the circle.

Before he had time to react, she phased.

Still inside the ring, Amelia smiled. That had been her plan all along.

"Oh, look...an overgrown dingo. You're not going to do much damage." Micheal chastised as AJ snapped at his wrist, before realizing his other hand was free.

Amelia covered her eyes, cringing at the whimper she heard as Micheal's free hand came down hard across AJ's muzzle. She heard AJ growl, but then stop suddenly. Amelia turned around.

It wasn't just Micheal anymore.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"My...she's a pretty one. I've never seen a she-wolf with a coloring such as her's," a man with shoulder length black hair and green eyes observed as AJ turned to look at him, glaring.

"Easy, Carden...that's because every wolf you run into, you don't admire them long enough! If you'd relax a bit and maybe get to know one, maybe they'll be hybrids one day!" another man chimed in, this one having short somewhat curly light brown hair, a certain eagerness in his tone, before he added, "But no...You kill them because of what they are, all because one of them took Tom away."

"Sisky, if I were thinking about the possibility of fathering a hybrid, don't you think I'd have pinned this one down already? And besides, who wants to taint a perfect vampire's DNA with lycan filth?"

At those words, AJ growled, causing the black haired man the others had referred to as Carden to walk towards her, and set a hand in her fur, almost as if to reassure her.

"Don't worry girl, I didn't mean that. My friend just likes to joke around, perhaps too much for his own good."

AJ immediately tried to shake the vampire away, and surprisingly, he backed away.

"Seems she's a little skittish. What'd you do to her, Chizzy?"

The Australian vampire shrugged, "Nothing. Her friend, on other hand-" here he motioned to Amelia, who had been watching the entire thing wide eyed, "Is confident we are not a threat."

The one named Sisky laughed.

"That's great! Best thing I've heard all day! Thinks we're not a threat...Who is she, to think we're not a threat?"

"See for yourself."

Amelia blinked, and then standing in front of her was another member of the Dandies. Instantly she felt unnerved, as though she should get as far away from there as possible.

But she found herself lost in brown eyes, and then the accompanying smile from the lips below wiped her thoughts.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It felt like Amelia was in a fog. She had no sense of time, and everything felt like it was slowed to a snail's pace. She could see the man in front of her. His lips were moving, but she couldn't understand a thing. The only thing she could hear was a voice. It was saying, "There's no need to fear me. I am your friend. Drop your weapons." It calmed her, and Amelia began to lower her weapons.

Suddenly, she heard another voice, this one much clearer and much louder. It was Illshya, and she was screaming at Amelia.

_"MY CHILD! WHATEVER YOU DO, DO NOT LOWER YOUR WEAPONS! IF YOU DO, HE WILL KILL YOU! YOU HAVE TO BREAK FREE!" she pleaded, and it was enough to break Amelia out of the trance._

Amelia looked at the man, and smiled.

"Get out of my head," she said quietly.

"What's that?" asked the vampire.

"I said, GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" Amelia yelled, allowing the demon's voice to seep into her own.

She stared up at the vampire defiantly, her eyes blazing.

The vampire was startled, to say the least. What was this new air of confidence? The girl had just been under his control, and then it had just shattered. Brendon furrowed his eyebrows in frustration. He tried to peer into her mind, so that he would have something to latch on to so that he could begin to manipulate her once again. He was able to get in easily enough, but then he heard a voice.

_"If you don't get out of her head right now, you are going to be in trouble," a voice said, and it was the same voice that the girl had spoken in before._

_Brendon ignored it and kept probing._

_"I said, GET OUT!" the voice said and the link immediately shattered._

Brendon jumped back, clearly scared. His mind control had failed twice? Impossible!

"What the hell are you?" he asked, not sure he would like the answer.

"Oh honey, you have no idea," the girl said with a smile, a slight New Orleans type accent seeping through.

_"My lady, I hereby cede control of my body to you. Fight until they are dead," Amelia said._

_"As you wish, my child," the demon replied gravely._

What happened next, Brendon wasn't entirely sure. One moment, the girl was standing in front of him, and the next, she was laying on the ground, convulsing and screaming. Her limbs twisted back at unnatural angles and she sounded like she was being possessed by the devil.

The next thing he knew, the fire that was around the two of them dissipated, and the girl on the ground was silent. Brendon looked at his comrades with his eyebrows raised, as if to say, "I don't know what the hell just happened."

Brendon walked over to the girl and knelt down to pick her up. AJ let out a warning growl. She knew what would happen the minute that he got close to Amelia.

"Shut it, mutt," said the one named Carden.

The moment that Brendon reached his hand out toward Amelia, her hand shot out and grabbed his wrist. Her eyes opened and she sat up. She threw him backwards as if he were nothing and stood up. She brushed herself off and stared Brendon down.


	8. A Little Less 8

Brendon couldn't help but be a bit nervous. There was something different about this girl now, and he didn't like it.

Amelia took the gun out of its holster and fired a shot at Brendon, who easily dodged it. He ran right at Amelia with his arm ready to throw a punch. What he didn't count on though, was Amelia side stepping him completely, bending low and hooking her leg with his, effectively tripping him. When he was down, she took the opportunity to fire her gun and Brendon hissed in pain as the holy water bullet began to sizzle in his arm. She shot another bullet into his leg, which prevented him from getting up. Amelia took this opportunity to kneel down and grab him by the vest. She pulled him close until their faces were inches apart. She placed the barrel of the gun on his chest, right where his heart would be.

"Now. sugar, why do we have to do this? Can't we all just get along?" she asked with a thick Southern drawl.

The odd thing was, though, whenever she spoke, it was like there were two voices, intertwined yet separate. Brendon could hear the voice of the girl with the Southern accent, but he could also hear the voice that he had heard when he was inside her head, just below the surface.

He swallowed the lump that was in his throat and spoke.

"What are you?"

"Now, now, if I told you, hon, that would be no fun. Now, I am gonna tell you something, and you best respect it: Let me and my friend go. If you do, you won't die, but if you don't, I'm gon' be forced to fire one of these holy water bullets into your heart, and I don't want to do that. What do you say, sugar?" she asked, a mischievous glint in her eye.

Before he could answer, Sisky and Butcher ran up behind her and tried to get her away from Brendon. Then, she was gone! She moved so fast that even Brendon couldn't track it. Sisky and Butcher were left standing there, stupified. They looked around for her, but there was nothing.

"I'm over here, y'all," she said before she reappeared and slammed her foot into Sisky's back and he went flying. Butcher threw a punch at her, but she caught it easily. She grabbed his arm and bent it backwards until it snapped.

"Now, I don't understand why y'all are being so mean to me. I just came here to enjoy your fine city. There's no need to fight," she said as she walked to where William, Mike, and Chislett were.

Immediately, Chislett let out a blast of fire, which forced her back a few steps. Then, without missing a beat, he used a burst of telekinesis to hurl a car at Amelia. The car crushed her and pinned her up against a nearby building. Chislett breathed a sigh of relief and AJ let out a whimper.

Just as Chislett walked towards her, the car came flying back at him and the girl walked towards him.

"All right now, that was just rude. Where are your manners? Don't you know how to treat a lady?" she asked, her hair now slightly messed up and a small bit of blood dripping from her nose.

Mike scoffed.

"Please, you're no lady," he said.

"Got that right, sugar," she said with a smirk. Then, she said the word "Transform."

All at once, in front of their eyes, the girl in front of them began to change. Just as before, her limbs contorted at unnatural angles and she yelled in pain. A blinding light filled the air.

When the light cleared, they were no longer looking at a human. Standing in her place was a creature that was about 6 feet tall with large light brown wings folded up on her back. Her skin was covered with speckled, down-like feathers. Her hair was a dark brown and it came straight down the middle of her back. Her arms and legs were like a bird's, with razor sharp talons on each claw. Her outfit consisted of an armored top that came down to her mid stomach but still revealed her midriff. A short skort covered her legs to mid thigh. Her eyes were a piercing green. She looked around at the vampires. The young ones were especially speechless.

"Now now, sugar. I'm gon' ask you again. Leave my friend and me in peace, or I'm going to be forced to kill all of you," she said, this time, the other voice more prevalent.

"Like hell you will," said the one named Carden.

He ran at her and tried to fight her, but he was no match. She spread her wings and was gone. She reappeared right behind him and grabbed his neck in her hands. As she was about to twist it, a jolt of electricity flowed through her body. The Australian vampire was next to her. She growled in pain and struck out at him. He was fast, but not fast enough. Amelia managed to rake her talons across his chest and delighted in the bloody wound it left behind. The other three vampires didn't even try and fight back, which left only one.

She walked towards the man whom she assumed was the leader.

"And what about you? You've been awfully quiet, sugar. What's a matter? Cat got your tongue?" she said with a laugh.

"I don't see why I should talk to you when all you've done is attack my men," he said, his voice clear and smooth.

"Aw, come on, hon. Don't be like that. I wouldn't have done anything if they hadn't hurt my friend. Sometimes, you just gotta learn the hard way. Right, AJ?" Amelia said as she walked towards the Lycan.

AJ surprisingly backed up. She'd seen Amelia transform before, but the whole demonic possession thing still creeped her out.

"So, what do you want?" the man with the long brown hair and derby hat asked.

Amelia turned to face him.

"I just wanted to come and enjoy your beautiful city, Mr. Beckett. Is that so much to ask?" she asked as she walked closer to William.

Even though she tried not to let it show, Amelia was getting tired. She had never maintained a possession for this long.

"I don't think it's too much to ask, provided that you leave my men alone," William said, trying to keep control of the situation.

"Now, hon, where's the fun in that?" she asked as she absentmindedly ran a clawed hand up and down his arm, the talons ripping holes in the fabric of his expensive suit.

He grabbed her hand and held it. They stared at each other for a moment, and that was when Beckett struck. He took something out of his pocket and jabbed it into her arm. It was a syringe, filled with some sort of liquid. At that same time, Mike Carden had done the same thing to AJ.

All at once, Amelia's world started to spin and her eyelids felt heavy. She could feel herself slipping from Illshya's control. She even began to transform back into her human form.

She staggered a bit and Beckett caught her, his arms wrapped firmly around her waist. She crumpled to the ground and he fell with her. She looked up at him, her eyes glazed, as her breath came in short, shallow gasps.

"Now, now, sugar. Why'd you have to go and do that? There was no need for that," she said, her voice raspy and slightly more human.

"Shh, just sleep, my dear. This will be over soon," William said, his voice calm.

Amelia guessed that it was some sort of sleeping agent he had shot her up with. Well, she had one more thing to say before she went under. She actually chuckled.

"Hey sugar, I've got a little secret I want to tell you, before whatever you injected me with takes over," she began and William leaned in close.

She took in a ragged breath before continuing. "If anything should happen to me or my friend while we're here, be prepared. If anything happens, it will mean war. _He_ will come looking for you, and probably kill you."

"Who will come looking for me?" William asked, intrigued.

"Lucia-," Amelia began, but the word died on her lips as the unknown chemical took over her and she succumbed to the black abyss.


	9. A Little Less 9

"So now that we've got them, what do we do? We can't just drain them, you heard the demon, someone's gonna come looking for us and we might die," Sisky said, trying to laugh about it.

"Die?" Beckett laughed, "We're vampires. We're impossible to kill."

The girls were out cold thanks to the sedative they'd been injected with, and would be that way for quite a few hours. Beckett could afford to think of a plan later.

"We take them back to the mansion with us, the spare room on the lower level should be enough to keep them comfortable, and one of us will always keep watch." He replied, noticing Brendon raising an eyebrow in confusion.

"Wouldn't it be just easier to lock the door?"

"It would, but with what just happened I don't want to risk one of them getting lose and destroying the mansion."

Brendon nodded, and with Beckett carrying Amelia, Mike with AJ, the group headed back.

Two days had passed, the two girls being kept in an extra bedroom on the first floor, someone constantly keeping watch despite it being locked.

"I still don't think we're safe." Brendon said as the two were talking in Beckett's office.

"Don't be stupid. No one would be brave enough to try and come look for them, with what control we have. And besides, I'm having magical wards placed on the city as we speak, to prevent further altercations such as the one between you and that Canadian lycan," Beckett replied swiftly, reassuring that nothing was going to wreck the plan he had in mind for the girls.

"I'm glad to hear that. Speaking of lycan, has Mike gotten around to –" and at that moment both men heard a very loud shriek from downstairs, followed by muffed banging.

"I guess he has. Mind if I go join in on the fun?" Brendon asked, the very thought of one of the girls supplying a light snack making his mouth water.

"You may, but remind Mike I've instructed him only to scare them, these girls are not to be killed until we've determined exactly why they are in our city."

Brendon nodded, and turned, exiting the office to head downstairs. He didn't expect there to be much of a fight, he expected the lycan to be pinned down, the vampire's lips already against her smooth skin.

"You want help?" Brendon asked nonchalantly as he observed the two on the floor, Mike wrestling with her, she constantly trying to free herself. He managed to grab her wrists and straddle her before he looked up, noticing Brendon there.

"Now I've got this under control. Feisty one, aren't you?" He taunted as a girl still struggled against him, breathing hard and whining.

"Go get the other one if you want to, you need a snack. I'm not going to hurt this one mu-"

"LET ME GO!" The blonde hollered, bucking her hips underneath him, desperate to be free. Mike grabbed one of her hands and started to twist her arm back, hoping to snap it and then laugh and the pain she'd be in, but then Brendon put a hand on his shoulder.

"You're not to hurt her until Beckett has interrogated her," Brendon reminded him.

"Oh, come on! Just let me break her wrist, I want to see the mutt cry!"

"I'm not a mutt!"

"Shut it, mutt." Mike smirked, proud of himself for pissing the lycan off.

"Beckett said it's alright if we feed, but we're not to torture."

"But-"

"She's not moving now. Bite her." Brendon observed, the blonde had stopped fidgeting, knowing it was a moot point. Carden turned to look at the blonde, shifting his weight as he leaned in toward her, causing her to gasp.

"If you stay quiet, I'll let you stay conscious tonight, okay?" he murmured lips at her ear, voice gone from a harsh growl to a smooth reassuring but still husky tone.

He felt the lycan nod, a small whimper escaping her lips as he opened his mouth. Feeling her shiver at his lips against her skin he smiled. Another without another thought, he bit her, reveling in the blood.

Being was she a lycan, you wouldn't think Carden would like her blood, but really, any blood was the same, and it certainly was better than none at all.

Brendon looked down at the pair, and then decided to take Mike's advice and grab the other girl.

Walking back to the room where the girls were kept, he nodded a hello to Chislett before pausing.

"Hey, you want the first taste of the demon, or can I have it? I think if I do it might not go too well because of the whole getting inside her head thing and then it failing," Brendon reasoned.

"Mate, you think she'll trust me after I'd been tailing her and the lycan around the city?"

"You have the accent. You should know by now that's a clear advantage. Just…well…talk enough to distract her and then just bite her! Mike's already got the other one powerless, they're in the foyer by the stairwell."

"That may be true, but…wait, did you say Mike's gotten to the lycan? Damn…he's not the one of us that should have got first taste. You know how he gets with lycans, especially since Tom…"

Brendon nodded grimly, "Well, we'll just have to watch him, make sure he doesn't do anything stupid, otherwise Beckett will...well, you know how he gets when he's mad."

Chislett nodded as he walked past Brendon, into the room where they were currently keeping the girls. The room was well furnished, with a giant bed, a nice armoir, a bookshelf, a desk, and some chairs. It wasn't bad living arrangements, if you asked him. As soon as he had walked in, the demon girl, who was sitting on the bed, with her back to him, snapped to attention.

She turned around to face him and immediately dug in her pockets, looking for any kind of weapon. Of course, there were none to be found because William had confiscated them all.

"What do you want?" she asked, her eyes darting around, looking for an escape.

"I think you know what I want," he replied with a smirk.

"Just came to talk, I suppose?" she asked with a bitter laugh.

"Something like that," he said as he stepped closer to her.

Amelia instinctively backed away from him and attempted to put as much space between herself and Chislett as possible. She reached around on the desk behind her, trying to find something that she could defend herself with. Her hand brushed against something metallic and she grabbed it in her hand. It was a stainless steel letter opener. She held it in front of her, ready to attack, and there she made a critical mistake.

In her haste, she grabbed the wrong end of the letter opener. The blade dug into the soft flesh of her palm. She hissed in pain and dropped the letter opener on the floor. A thin line of blood appeared on her palm. She looked at Chislett, and she saw something dangerous and almost feral flicker in his eyes. This was _not_ good.

"Well now, this just made things interesting," he mused as he licked his lips.


	10. A Little Less 10

He walked closer still, and Amelia backed up until her back hit the writing desk. In an instant, Chislett was in front of her, and there was nowhere for her to go. He placed his hands on either side of the desk, effectively blocking her.

"Well now, sugar, looks like you've got no place to go," he laughed as he grabbed her bleeding hand. He brought it to his mouth and gently licked the blood off of her hand. Amelia shivered.

He brought her body closer to his and brushed her hair off of her neck. He turned her neck to the side, his hand as cold as death. As he lowered his lips to her neck, she concentrated as hard as she could on her hand. The demon complied, and a burst of purple fire appeared in her hand. She touched her free hand to his forearm and delighted when he hissed and stepped back from her.  
>She grabbed the letter opener from the floor, and quickly drove it into his arm. While he was momentarily distracted, she tried to run out of the room. Michael, however, closed the door with a burst of telekinesis.<p>

"All right, that hurt. Won't let that happen again," he said as he pulled the letter opener out of his arm with a sickening squelch.

Amelia turned to face him, her eyes wide. There was nothing for her to do now. Chislett walked over to her and grabbed her arm. Looking deep into her eyes, he said the word "Sleep" and almost instantly, Amelia's eyes got heavy and she felt herself drifting off to sleep. The last thing she felt was a sharp pain in her neck and then nothing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When she woke up again, she felt dizzy and disoriented. Someone was trying to put something in her mouth, but she resisted.

"Relax, it's just some juice. We don't need you passing out on us during interrogation," said a voice near her ear. At that moment, she realized how thirsty she was and she opened her mouth. Her eyes opened slowly. She noticed that she was tied into a chair and when she turned her head, she could see that AJ was next to her, still unconscious. After Carden finished giving her some juice, AJ woke up and they gave her some juice too.

Once all of that was done, Beckett came in and sat down in front of them. The two girls were in an elaborately decorated office. Beckett's men stood beside him.

"Now that you girls are awake, I think it's time we got down to business. Why have you come to my city?" Beckett asked.

Amelia shot one look at AJ, and almost as if she could read her mind, she nodded.

_"No tenemos que decirle nada," she replied._

"Speak English, punk!" Carden said as he reached out and slapped her across the face. Amelia glared at him.

_"No"_, she replied. As Mike raised his hand again, William put his hand on Mike's arm.

Carden turned to AJ, "Are you going to speak English? Or do I get to have another snack first?"

AJ stole a glance at Amelia. She nodded.

_"Je préfère ne pas parler anglais, merci beaucoup." _She replied, with a smirk.

"All right, that's it, I'm gonna-"and before Carden could finish his sentence, he found Chislett's hand on his other arm.

"Let me try, mate, you come on too strong." He reasoned.

Chislett sat in one of the chairs across from the girls. Making eye contact with AJ, he simply said, "You know I can understand what you're saying. So why don't you tell me why you're here?"

"We're here because you brought us here," Amelia added, not realizing how snarky it sounded.

"Not what I meant. Why are you in the city?"

"So we're not allowed to enjoy Chicago now?"

"When you come with as many weapons as you did, there's a catch, it's not just 'to enjoy the city'." Brendon interjected.

"What if I said it was a business venture?" AJ challenged.

"Business venture? Mind explaining?"

"Do I have to?" AJ asked innocently.

"If you want to live," Carden growled, glaring.

"And who said you two were asking the questions? I believe this is an interrogation and we expect answers," Beckett said, still calm.

"Well," AJ sighed, looking at Amelia.

"We came here to find work. Amelia and I, we're in a business of assassination, and we heard you guys are the strongest vampires around, so we figured we'd come to help eradicate your enemies." She explained.

"¿_Estás loca? Van a matárnos!_" Amelia said

_"__Tais toi et laisse-moi parler__,_" AJ shot back with a grin.

_"Claro."_

"A vampire does not need help in exacting vengeance; we have enough help without a lycan and a demon in our ranks." Beckett answered.

There was something off about the girls, and he just couldn't put his finger on it. And then he remembered what one of the girls had said right before she'd blacked out.

"If you came to us to look for work, why were you so concerned about someone coming to look for you?" Beckett challenged.

He smirked at the panic crossing the lycan's face.

AJ hadn't thought of that, and Beckett had found the loophole in her plan, the flaw. Amelia looked at her worriedly.

"Because one of our friends told us to come here and his other friend doesn't like you guys," AJ said, flustered.

Beckett almost smiled; he'd cracked their little lie with one carefully timed remark. Things were going to move along smoothly now.

Running through the options in his head, Beckett knew he could ether continue to ask and hope they realized how much danger they were in, or he could let them go back to the room they were being kept in to build some shred of hope of escaping or having someone rescue them only to bring them back again later to repeat what had just happened.

Knowing the second option was more his style, he nodded at the lycan's answer and then looked at Brendon and Chislett.

"I think that's enough for now. Brendon, Michael, take the girls back to their room."

And then, looking at the girls, he added, "Don't think this is over. It's far from it."

Amelia looked at AJ, then back at Beckett.

No words left her mouth, but inside her head, they were just as loud when thought. An even the demon agreed.

_'No, this isn't over. Because when it is, you're going to be dead.'_


	11. A Little Less 11

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It had been almost two weeks since Beckett and his men had captured the two girls. Everything had been going smoothly up until that point. They had managed to drag out of the girls that they had come to the city in order to kill Beckett, though they had had to use "creative" methods to get it out of them.

Michael Guy Chislett had been feeling uneasy for the past few days. He couldn't explain it, but he felt like something bad was going to happen. He still remembered the demon girl's threat, and couldn't help but wonder what it meant. He retired to bed early that night and fell into a restless sleep.

Suddenly, he was dreaming.

_He walked along a street in Chicago, just like he did every day. This time, it was different, though. There was a heaviness in the air that normally wasn't there. It was also very dark, except for the light of the full moon. He couldn't help but feel a little nervous. As he walked, he kept his ears and nose on high alert in case anyone tried to sneak up on him. _

_For a while, nothing happened. He just kept walking and walking. _

_Without warning, something ran into him, completely blindsiding him. He was thrown to the ground. He couldn't see anything, but he could hear a voice. The voice kept repeating the same thing, over and over again. It said, "Where are they? Tell me where they are!"_

_It was a male voice, and it sounded vaguely familiar to Chislett, but he couldn't place it. Then he rose to a state of semi-consciousness, hovering just between sleep and waking. Images flashed in his subconscious, too many for his brain to make out. All he knew that there was a lot of blood and a general sense of an ominous presence. The images slowed down eventually, and the last thing he saw before he woke up was Mikey Way's face, crystal clear, and a voice, this time different, saying, "We're coming for them."_

He bolted upright, drenched in a cold sweat. He looked around his room and was relieved to find that Mikey Way was nowhere to be found. His hands were shaking as he gripped the sheets tightly. He had to tell William about this.

He took a moment to compose himself before getting out of bed and walking silently to William's office. He knew that William would still be up because sunrise wasn't for another four hours. (Chislett slept on a bit of a different schedule than the others because he was a daywalker.) He knocked on the door and after being allowed to enter, he sat down across from William, who was sitting at his desk, talking on his phone.

He waited to be addressed.

After a few moments, William hung up the phone and looked at him.

"What can I do for you, Michael?" he asked.

For some reason, he almost flinched at the sound of his own name. William noticed.

"Is everything all right? You seem nervous," he commented.

Chislett took a breath before replying. "I've been nervous all week."

"And why is that?"

"I can't explain it. It just feels like something bad is going to happen. And tonight, I had a dream. A vision."

William raised an eyebrow at this. "Really? A vision? Do tell," he said, interested.

Michael gulped and suddenly realized how dry his throat was. He wished he had something to drink.

Almost as if reading his mind, William poured him a glass of blood, which he accepted graciously.

"Well, at first, it wasn't anything to worry about. I was just walking down the street at night, you know? But it was different outside. It felt like there was this thing that was there, and it wasn't friendly," he started.

William nodded as if to signal him to continue.

"Then something ran into me, knocked me flat on my butt. I couldn't see anything. I could just hear this voice, and it was saying things like, 'Where are they?' 'Tell me where they are', 'I'll find them', things like that. But then this is where it gets freaky," he said.

He took another deep breath before continuing.

"I started seeing all of these images. I don't even what they were. I just know that there was a lot of blood, and there was this heavy feeling again. They were going so fast, I couldn't really make out what they were. The worst part though, was after the images stopped, I saw, clear as day, Mikey Way's face. And a voice said, 'We're coming for them,"" he finished and waited for William's response.

William's expression was unreadable. Finally, he said, "So, what do you think of it?"

Chislett shrugged. "I'm not sure."

William nodded before he reached over and grabbed Chislett's wrist. He quickly bit down, and he was instantly able to see his memories. This included the dream. After a moment, he pulled away and wiped his mouth. His mouth was pursed in a straight line.

"That was definitely sent by Gerard, Mikey's brother. I've seen him do this sort of thing before," William said.

"You have?"

"Yes. I only know because I can do the same thing. It's almost like how Brendon can influence one's thoughts. We can influence memories to the point where we can literally send them to others."

"So what does it mean?" Chislett asked, afraid of the answer.

"It's a warning. They're coming, most likely to look for the girls. I don't know how long we have, but we need to move quickly. Go get Brendon, Mike, and the girls and bring them back here," William instructed and Chislett complied.

After that, the girls were permanently moved to an underground bunker that lay in a neutral territory where no one hunted. All that they could do now was wait for the inevitable.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	12. A Little Less 12

Mikey Way was just beginning to enjoy the peace that had settled over the city. The last few days had been nothing short of hell for Mikey and his friends. Zombies, newly sired vampires, and even a gaggle of ghosts had been causing trouble in the Jersey area and they had had to step in and intervene. No one had particularly slept, with Mikey faring the worst. In the past week, he had gotten approximately 3 hours of sleep. No sleep made Mikey a very cranky Lycan, and he was quite looking forward to some well-earned sleep.

After driving back to the house that he, his brother Gerard, and their friends Ray Toro, Frank Iero, and Bob Bryar all shared, Mikey mumbled something that could have sounded like "Good night" and padded swiftly off to his room. He took off his shoes and put on some comfy pajamas. He didn't even bother turning on the light, his sharp Lycan senses being more than enough to navigate the slightly messy room. He then laid down on the bed and put his cell phone on the table next to him. He closed his eyes and his body immediately began to thank him. Just as he was about to be carried blissfully away to the land of nod, his cell phone rang, the annoying factory-preset tone blaring in his overly sensitive ears. He growled, but did nothing else. He was too tired to take the phone and throw it against the wall.

Whoever was calling must have had some reason to need to talk to Mikey, because they called back three more times. On the fourth ring, he reluctantly picked up, but refused to open his eyes.

"Whoever this is, you had better have a goddamn good reason for calling me," he growled into the receiver.

"Mikey, this is Sebastien," said the voice on the other end.

"Sebastien, what do you want?" Mikey sighed as he rolled over.

"We have a problem, Mikey. It's Lady Illshya. She's gone missing," Sebastien said.

Mikey bolted upward and opened his eyes.

"What? Missing? How?" Mikey asked, now wide awake.

"Well, she called me about two weeks ago, saying she needed me to 'watch her cats', which meant she was going somewhere dangerous and wanted me to follow her to keep an eye on her. When I asked where she was going, she said she was going to the Windy City on an official mission. You know whose city that is, don't you?"

"Beckett," Mikey spat, as if it was a dirty word.

"Yup. Well, I followed her and her friend. At first, nothing happened, but then they had a run in with Gabe Saporta and his band of Cobras. Thankfully, the girls managed to kill four of the Cobras, and they would have probably killed Gabe, too, if he hadn't threatened Amelia's friend, AJ. Her friend, you know, is the one that Remus saved. And if that wasn't enough, the whole time that they had been in the city, they were being followed by two of Beckett's men," Sebastien explained, barely taking a pause to breathe.

"That's great, Seb, but why are you calling me?" Mikey asked

"I was getting to that. You see, once I saw they were being followed, I confronted Beckett's goons, told them that I would kill them if they didn't leave the girls alone. Well, after that, I got a call from my friend Chuck. He needed me back in Montreal that night, so I hopped on a red-eye flight back to Montreal. I thought I would only be gone a few days so that I could keep watching the girls. Well, that was a week and a half ago. I have no idea where they are or what happened to them. Plus, when I came back to the city tonight, there were magical wards placed on the city. I couldn't get in. I don't know what to do, Mikey. I'm scared for the girls. If anything were to happen to them, especially Lady Illshya, and especially by Beckett's hand, Lucian would never forgive me. I need help. I was hoping Gerard could use some of his influence to try and get the girls back," Sebastien finished.

"I understand. I'll let Gerard know, and we'll go to Chicago as soon as we can. I swear to God, if Beckett or any of his men, especially that bastard Mike Carden, hurt them in any way, I'll rip them apart," Mikey promised, his tone grave.

"Thank you, Mikey. Call me if anything changes," Sebastien said. Mikey made a noise in affirmation and hung up.

Sebastien Lefebvre had just managed to shatter the peace that had descended over the city.

All thoughts of sleep aside, Mikey rubbed his eyes and ignored the pain that shot through his exhausted body as he lifted himself out of bed and stood up. He quietly walked from his room out into the dining room. His brother Gerard was sitting at the table, looking over some paperwork, while his friends Bob Bryar and Ray Toro were quietly watching TV.

"Gerard," he said softly, "We have a problem."

His brother looked up, his black hair hanging in his eyes.

"What's up, Mikey?" Gerard asked.

"You know my friend, Amelia, right?"

"The demon?"

"Yeah, that's the one. I just got a call from Sebastien. Apparently, Amelia and her friend went on an assassination mission to Beckett's city, and Seb lost track of them. He left about a week and a half ago to go back to Canada for something and when he came back tonight, there were magic wards placed on the city, so he can't get in. He's asked for our help in trying to get them back. He was hoping you could use your influence to try and persuade Beckett to let them go," Mikey explained.

Gerard snorted at this. "Influence? Just because I control a large part of Jersey and I happen to be the same age as Beckett, doesn't mean I have 'influence' over him. Besides, it's Beckett. I don't think he would exactly be warm to the idea of us just waltzing into his city and demanding he release those girls," he said.

Mikey growled, and before Gerard had registered what had happened, Mikey had him pinned against the wall by his throat. Normally, Gerard would have been able to block his brother, but his own lack of sleep had clouded his judgment.

"God damn it, Gerard! You know how important she is to me, to Lucian! If something were to happen to her, Lucian would have me killed in an instant. Please, I am begging you, we need to go help them," Mikey said, his voice low.

Gerard nodded slightly, and Mikey released him. Gerard stepped away from the wall and rubbed his throat.

"All right, we'll make plans to go tomorrow," Gerard said.

"Tomorrow? No, we can't wait that long! Sebastien has already been gone a week and a half! If we wait any longer, who knows what could happen to them?" Mikey said whispered loudly. (He didn't want to wake up Frank).

"Mikey, we'll go tomorrow, I promise. Right now, we all need sleep, you especially. Once you are well-rested, then we'll go," Gerard said.

"But-!"

"No buts!" Gerard said, and bared his fangs. As impulsive as Mikey could be sometimes, he was still Gerard's younger brother, and he still respected him.

"Fine," he grumbled and he turned to walk back to his room.

When Mikey turned around, he was staring into the bright blue eyes of one Bob Bryar. Bob whispered something in his ear, and before he knew what happened, his eyes shut and he fell onto the ground, sleeping.

Gerard thanked Bob, who nodded. Gerard walked over and picked up the sleeping Lycan and placed him back in his bed. Before turning in for the night, Gerard made arrangements so that he and his friends could leave the city without everything falling apart. Then he went to sleep, as did Ray and Bob. If they were going up against Beckett, they were going to need to be in top form.

The next night, Gerard woke up around midnight. He woke Frank up and the two went out to hunt. When they came back, Mikey was up and packing, as were Ray and Bob.

"Pack lightly, you guys. We don't need a lot," Gerard said as he loaded up a small cooler with blood for him and Frank.

Once they were finished packing, Ray brought up a good point.

"So guys, once we get to Chicago, what are we going to do? I mean, it's not like Beckett will just hand over the girls," Ray said with a hint of doubt in his voice.

"Well, Sebastien wanted me to try and bargain, so that's what I'll try and do," Gerard said, shrugging his shoulders and looking at Mikey. Mikey, honestly, hadn't thought this through either. He just wanted revenge.

Once their belongings were packed, they walked out of the home and prepared to depart. They set their stuff on the ground and formed a circle. They all held hands as Bob recited a teleportation spell. Then the world around them suddenly warped as they were transported from New Jersey to Chicago. They arrived just outside the city limits, and thankfully, all in one piece. (One time, they had teleported and when they arrived, Frank was missing his head, and Ray was missing an arm. It was just a mess, but today, they were fine.)

Just as the five supernatural beings approached the city, their skins all bristled. The magic surrounding the city was really strong.

"Wow, it sure looks like Beckett didn't want anyone coming into his city," Frank stated.

"Think you can handle it, Bob?" Mikey asked

Bob nodded. He cracked his knuckles and his neck. Then he stepped forward to the invisible dome of magic and put his hands on the dome. He began to recite words in an ancient tongue and slowly clenched his fists. After a few minutes, cracks began to form in the dome, and eventually, the whole thing ruptured in a loud explosion. The five of them walked into the city.

"He's had to have heard that," Frank said with a slight smile.

"Well, we've always known how to make an entrance," Gerard agreed.

Before they went and found Beckett, they decided to look for a temporary shelter. They would need it once the sun came up. They walked through the abandoned slums of town and found a small factory, that from the looks of it, hadn't seen any inhabitants in years. They set their stuff down, and Bob placed a ward of his own around the perimeter, to ward off unwelcome guests.

After that, they went off in search of Beckett. All while looking for the Dandies' mansion, Mikey kept his nose on alert, trying to sense where the girls were. Bob also tried a tracing spell, but nothing happened. The streets were surprisingly deserted for this time of night.

Eventually, in the distance, there loomed a large mansion. Mikey could feel himself wanting to growl in excitement. They walked up to the gates and readied themselves, half expecting a fight, but there was no one. Instead of ringing the speaker button and waiting to be let in, Ray took it into his own hands, literally. He unclasped the blue bracelet that he wore to contain his power. Horns sprouted from his head and he felt the power surging through him. He ripped the gates off of the fence effortlessly and they walked through.

Before they were able to walk up to the house, an arrow whizzed past Frank's head and buried itself in Mikey's shoulder. He let out a pained cry as a voice behind them shouted, "And what do you think you're doing?"

The five of them wheeled around and were confronted by Beckett and his men. The minute that Mikey saw Mike Carden holding the crossbow, he snarled and walked forward. Ray put a hand on his shoulder, and Gerard held his arm out to block him.

"Don't you know that this is private property?" William asked as he and his men walked forward.

"And don't you know that it's rude to shoot an arrow into the shoulder of a guest in your city?" Gerard countered.

"Well, I think I have every right, considering you five practically broke in, and then proceeded to break down my gate," Beckett deadpanned.

"Oh please, _Bilvy_. Like that's _sooo _outlandish because you've _never_ done _anything_ questionable in your 300 years," Gerard retorted, the sarcasm dripping from every word.

Gerard personally delighted in the grimace that worked its way across Beckett's normally calm facade at the mention of his nickname.

"So what do you shelias want?" asked the Australian vampire with blond hair.

"Well, it seems that you guys have something we want," Gerard said.

"And what would that be?" Beckett asked innocently.

"How about Lady Illshya and her friend, you bastard?" Mikey snarled as another arrow went flying past him.

"You'd better shut your mouth, mutt. This is our city!" Mike Carden declared with a smirk.

That really got Mikey's blood boiling. He leapt forward, and before Gerard could stop him, he ran at Mike Carden with the intent of smashing his face in. Beckett tried to intercept him with a roundhouse kick to the stomach, but Mikey easily dodged it. He tackled Mike Carden to the ground, but before he could do anything, the Australian vampire sent a jolt of electricity coursing through his body. Mikey fell to the ground, temporarily stunned, and as Beckett's other second in command was about kick him while he was down, Gerard suddenly appeared in front of him, blocked his kick and sent the younger vampire flying backwards with a punch of his own. He bared his fangs at the others and hissed. As the younger vampire got up, Beckett gave him a death glare.

"That's enough, Brendon," he said seriously. Brendon hissed, but did nothing else.

"I apologize for my men's behavior. They really don't know how to treat guests in our city. Please, come in, and we can talk more about what you are looking for," Beckett said, his attitude completely changed.

That was the thing about Beckett. He was good at manipulating his emotions in order to control the situation. One minute, he could be sweet as apple pie, and then tearing your throat out in the next.

Gerard helped Mikey up, and everyone walked in the house. Beckett invited Gerard into his office to discuss what they had come to discuss. Everyone else was required to wait outside. It was like a Mexican standoff, with William's men on one side of the room and everyone else on the other.

"Why do we have to wait out here?" Sisky complained.

"Because, if we go in there, fleabag over there would probably end up messing on the carpets," said Brendon with a smirk.

Mikey snarled again, and Bob clamped his hand down on Mikey's shoulder and gave him a look that said, "Enough."

"Besides, we don't know what you are talking about. There's no one else here. Can you smell anyone else?" Brendon challenged.

"That's not the point. Sebastien called and said -" Mikey began.

"Oh, so you got your information from that stupid Canadian? Well, if he knew where they were, why didn't _he_ come and get them? In fact, where is he? I haven't seen him since he ran out of town," Brendon said haughtily.

Mikey laughed. "Oh please, Urie. Sebastien could have easily ripped you apart and you know it."

While they were talking, Frank walked over and was admiring the drapes. He ran his hands along the thick, velvet drapes.

"What are you doing?" asked the Butcher, a young, tatooed vampire.

"Oh, nothing. Just thinking of how beautiful these drapes would be if they burned down. It sure would be a shame if anything were to happen to them," Frank said as he concentrated a small flame in the palm of his hand.

After that, Frank rejoined the others and continued their intense staredown of the other vampires. Mike Carden and Mikey Way locked eyes and refused to budge.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	13. A Little Less 13

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Suddenly, Mikey began to see images flashing in his peripheral vision. They were images of Lady Illshya and her friend. He could see them being tortured, almost as if they were standing right next to him. He knew that Mike was the one who was doing it. The images soon became more graphic and bloody. What made them worse was that Mike Carden was always the one who was torturing them. This was really pissing Mikey off. To think that that bastard might have laid a hand on Lady Illshya just made Mikey hate him even more. He knew it was just an illusion, but that didn't stop it from making him angry.

'And don't worry,' said Mike Carden, telepathically, 'I can assure you, your friend, the demon, was absolutely delicious. I drank her blood every night. Can you imagine how delicious it was? It was like a nice whiskey, warm, but with a slow burn as it went down, spilling everywhere. It was so delicious, in fact, that I couldn't help myself, and I almost drained her dry. You should have heard the sound she made when I- '

That was the final straw. To hear him talk about her as if she were nothing but an object pissed Mikey off to no end.

With a feral cry, Mikey jumped and tackled Mike Carden once again. This time, though, he sunk his fangs into Mike's throat and ripped his throat out. Blood spurted everywhere and Carden made a pitiful gurgling noise as he tried to push Mikey off. Although Lycans do not drink blood, Mikey savored the taste of Carden's blood mixed with flesh and sinews of muscle.

"DON'T YOU DARE SAY ANYTHING LIKE THAT ABOUT HER EVER AGAIN, UNLESS YOU WANT TO END UP LIKE TOM CONRAD, YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Mikey bellowed, his mouth dripping with blood and vessels.

William and Gerard had come running out of the upstairs office the minute they heard the resounding thump of Mike Carden hitting the ground. They both gasped slightly at the ghastly sight in front of them. Mike Carden was laying on the ground, drowning in his own blood, and Mikey was kneeling over him, his mouth dripping with blood.

For a moment, everything was still, everyone in a stupor. Then Ray snapped into action. He removed his bracelet again, and tackled Mikey off of Mike, using everything he had to keep the enraged Lycan pinned on the ground. William and Gerard raced down the stairs and knelt down by Mike. William immediately instructed Chislett to start trying to heal him. Gerard just stared at Mikey in disbelief.

William looked at Gerard and his crew.

"Get out," he said, his voice low, but full of seething fury.

When no one made a move, he said it again.

"GET OUT!" he yelled, and the five were quick to comply. Ray dragged Mikey out and they all ran back down the hill.

Once they got back to the factory, Ray let Mikey go. For a moment, no one spoke. Then Gerard began to yell.

"What the hell were you thinking, Mikey? You can't just rip out the throat of Beckett's second in command like that! You know he's going to try and retaliate!" Gerard screamed.

Mikey shrugged. "That asshole deserved what he got. He pissed me off one too many times, and had to be taught a lesson."

Just as Gerard took a swing at Mikey, Bob stepped between the two brothers. He blasted Gerard away with a spell and then turned to look at Mikey.

"Look guys, we are here to help those girls, not to fight amongst each other. Now, I suggest we lay low for a day or two, because Gerard is right, Mikey. You ripped out the throat of one of Beckett's most powerful vampires. If we show our faces now, he'll have us all killed, and then we'll be of no help to the girls, so let's stay in for a day," he said and everyone nodded in agreement.

The hours that they spent waiting were long and agonizing. Mikey was pumped up with adrenaline and had no way to let it out. He eventually had to settle for sparring with Ray at full strength, but he had to stop when he ended up breaking several of Ray's ribs. After that, all he could do was sit and brood about how much he absolutely hated Mike Carden.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After Gerard and his men had retreated, William wasn't exactly sure what to do. One of his strongest vampires was laying on the ground, drenched in blood and making pathetic gurgling noises while Chislett tried to heal him. Unfortunately, it was too much for Chislett, who could only manage to stop the bleeding. Mike still had a gaping hole in his throat, which needed attention. He quickly dispatched Brendon and Butcher to go gather up as many mortals as they could. Mike was going to need a lot of blood if he was to heal properly.

He shooed Chislett away and knelt down by Mike. Without thinking much about it, he rolled up his sleeve and bit down on the pale flesh of his own wrist. Seeing as he was much older than Mike, he figured it would help with something until Brendon and Butcher got back. He lowered his wrist to Mike's mouth and allowed him to drink for a moment. The hole on Mike's neck began to close slowly and William pulled his wrist away. Carden tried to form words to express his thanks, but William silenced him by saying that he needed to rest.

William stood up and was surprised to see Sisky still standing there.

"What do you want?" he snapped rather harshly. Sisky's gaze drifted towards the ground, almost ashamed of disturbing him.

For a moment, William's face softened. "Sorry about that, Adam. Guess I'm a little on edge. Why don't you take the rest of the night off? You are relinquished from your duties until tomorrow. Go get some rest," he said in a voice that almost sounded caring. Sisky thanked him before retreating to his room.

Adam T. Siska was a special case. William had sired him almost a century ago after a rival group had left him for dead. Normally, William would have just walked by without batting an eyelash, but this boy had seemed different. He had reminded William of a sibling that he had had when he was younger, which had been a very long time ago. It stirred something in William that he hadn't felt in a long time, and, in a moment of what some would call weakness, he sired the boy and took him in.

Sisky, in turn, felt a great deal of respect and admiration for William. The two of them were closer than William was with any of his other sires. It was almost like an unspoken thing that everyone knew about.

While he was lost in a reverie, Chislett came back downstairs after cleaning his hands and Brendon and Butcher came back shortly thereafter. They helped Mike to feed, and eventually, after draining three mortals dry, the wound on his neck finally closed. Brendon escorted him to his room, and William dismissed Butcher, who went to go find Sisky. He told Chislett to meet him in his office.

Brendon wandered in after helping Mike. Even though they couldn't read his mind, Chislett asked the question that was on everyone's mind.

"So, what do we do now? Do we dare retaliate against Gerard?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	14. A Little Less 14

William took a deep breath before speaking. "Given our current situation, I would say that that is most unwise. I don't want to lose anyone else to Mikey Way's rage. Even with the three of us, I would still feel doubtful that we could take on two vampires, a Lycan, an oni, and a wizard and come out relatively unscathed. No, for now, we shall not do anything to Gerard and his men. I want to see how this progresses."

"And as far as the girls?" Brendon asked.

"If Gerard and his men want to play dirty, though, then that's how we'll play. An eye for an eye. The next time you go to visit the girls, rough them up a bit, add to their hopelessness. Not too much, but just enough. You are dismissed," he concluded.

Brendon and Michael filed quietly out of the office.

Before going their separate ways, Brendon pulled Chislett aside.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" he asked.

Chislett shrugged. "Not sure. We have to do what William says," and he left it at that.

As per William's instructions, each of his men would rough up the girls a little more each time they visited them. Not enough to severely hurt them, but just enough. This day, though, felt different. Chislett was in charge of watching the girls during the day and had just entered the bunker where they were. He closed the large steel door behind him. The bunker was modeled after those that were used during the Cold War. The walls were made of highly reinforced steel, and there were no windows. Fluorescent lights flickered overhead. There were two small beds in the middle of the room. The Lycan was curled up on one of them, sleeping, and the demon girl sat behind her, rubbing small circles on her back. She was staring straight ahead. He walked over to the bed where the girls were and looked at them. It was a pitiful sight. The Lycan girl was covered in lacerations and her hair was matted with blood. The demon girl wasn't much better.

When Chislett approached them, she snapped to attention and glared at him. He smiled back and stepped closer to the bed. The minute that he did, the demon girl jumped up and began to pitifully beat him. She threw punches, which he easily dodged, and it was terribly pitiful. In fact, Chislett almost felt bad when he grabbed her arm and then stomped his foot down on her back, which sent her smashing into the ground.

Amelia stayed down for a moment, blinded with pain. She finally lifted her head up and looked at him. She felt something wet and sticky running down her face and when she touched her hand to her nose, there was blood.

"Why are you doing this?" she asked hoarsely.

"What do you mean, why am I doing this? I'm simply following orders," he said as he knelt down in front of her.

She laughed, a bitter and dry laugh. "And that's it? You're just a sheep?"

This remark caught him off guard. "What? No -"

"Yes, you are. Don't lie to yourself. You're nothing but a sheep, content to do whatever William says, and you know it. Where's the fun in conformity? Don't you have any individual thoughts?"

"Well, sure I do, but I can't act on those thoughts. If I did -" he started before he stopped himself.  
>He didn't have to explain himself to the likes of her.<p>

"Oh, and behold, how the blind lead each other," she laughed scornfully. "Please, you're different and you know it. You're a daywalker, and that automatically sets you apart from the rest of them. Plus, I know that William is not your sire."

"How do you know that?"

"Simple logic: You can walk in the sun. William can't. Therefore, you must have been sired somewhere else. And you know what that means? You don't have to be loyal to William. You can help us. You can get us out of here!" she said.

Chislett scoffed. He could never do something like that.

"Please, you're the only one who can help us! Please!" she begged desperately.

Chislett said nothing. He simply got up and walked out of the bunker.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He walked for a long time, the girl's words still lingering in his head. Normally, he was pretty unshakable, but this had thrown a wrench into everything. The girl had a point, though. William did not sire him. He was sired a long time ago in Australia. The only reason that he stuck with William was because he had taken him in shortly after he had hopped a plane to the U.S. When William had found him, he hadn't had a drink of blood in a long time, and he was practically stark-raving mad. Was something like that really enough to cause him to pledge his loyalty to someone like William? It was true, he didn't agree with what was going on. It actually pained him to see them suffer, but he knew that if he went against William, it would be death.

"Screw it. Screw it all!" he declared.

The sun was high in the sky, but Chislett didn't care. He turned around sharply and began to follow his nose. Eventually, it led him to a poorer part of town. There was an abandoned warehouse at the end of the block. As he got closer, he wrinkled his nose. Yup, the Lycan was definitely there.

There were wards placed around the perimeter, but he easily broke them. One of the perks of being a copycat was that he had an almost unlimited supply of abilities, which being a cursebreaker was a part of.

After disabling the wards, he walked up to the door and knocked. He heard some shuffling from the other side. The door opened and the man with the curly afro answered it. When he saw Chislett, his eyes went wide.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, uncertainly.

"I came to help. I need to talk to Mikey," Chislett said, hoping he didn't appear too nervous.

The man nodded and went to get Mikey.

When Mikey saw who it was, he immediately bared his fangs and Chislett stepped back.

"What the hell do you think you're doing here? Did William send you here?" Mikey asked dangerously.

"Please, let me explain. William had nothing to do with this. I came here of my own accord," Chislett explained, holding his hands in what he hoped was a friendly "Whoa bro, calm down" gesture.

"And what do you want?"

"I know where the girls are."

Mikey considered this for a moment.

"Come in," he said gruffly.

Chislett walked across the threshold and was momentarily blinded. There was absolutely no outside light coming in, so it was quite dark.

"Follow me," Mikey said as he led the way.

Chislett followed him. They made their way back to the back of the factory, to what would have been the office. It was a cramped little room with white walls, a desk, a couch, and not much else. Ray, Frank, and Bob sat on the couch. Gerard was sitting behind the desk. The two of them walked in and Mikey closed the door.

When Frank first saw him, he hissed and bared his fangs.

"What the fuck is _he_ doing here?" he said in an accusatory tone as he lit a fire on the palm of his hand and stood up.

"He says he knows where the girls are," Mikey said as Bob pulled Frank back down and extinguished the fire.

"And you want to trust him? How do we know that Beckett didn't send him?" asked Gerard.

Before Mikey could answer, Chislett interrupted.

"Honestly, I don't blame that you guys don't trust me. Given my current record, I wouldn't trust myself either. But believe me when I say that I know where the girls are, and that Beckett has no idea that I am here. It's one of the perks of being able to walk in the sun," Chislett explained.

Gerard nodded, as if he wanted Chislett to continue.

"Well, before you guys even thought to come here, I saw it in a vision that Gerard was nice enough to send me. Anyway, William knew what you guys were coming here for, so he took the girls and hid them. In the area between our territory and the thugs', there is a sort of neutral zone. No one hunts there. In that area, there is an underground bunker. He hid them there, specifically. That way, you couldn't smell them, and you couldn't use a tracking spell," Chislett said as he pointed to Mikey and Bob, respectively.

"Is it secured?" asked the curly-haired oni

Chislett nodded. "Yeah, and pretty heavily. Mike and Brendon guard it at night, with William making appearances every now and then. Sometimes Sisky and Butcher help too."

"And during the day?" Gerard pressed.

"During the day, it's my job. Seeing as I'm the only daywalker, William trusts me to guard the girls."

"He trusts you an awful lot, doesn't he?"

Chislett nodded. "Sometimes, too much."

"Now, how do we know that we can really trust you? I wouldn't put it past William to try something like this to get us to lower our guard," Bob said skeptically and everyone nodded in agreement.

Before Chislett could say something, Gerard walked up behind him and sunk his fangs into his neck. After a moment, he pulled away and wiped his mouth.  
>"His story checks out. William knows nothing," Gerard said.<p>

Chislett nodded as the wounds began to heal themselves.

"So, if William didn't put you up to this, why would you even bother to help us find these girls? You could just as easily kill them," Ray pointed out.

"It was something that the demon girl said. She told me that I was different, which I am. She made me realize that I don't have to follow what William says. He wasn't the one who sired me, so I don't owe him anything. Besides, it always kind of bugged me, the way William treated the girls, so I kind of want to see him get what he deserves," Chislett admitted, and it felt good to finally say it..

"So you can get us to where they are and help us save them, all without William finding out?" Frank asked.

"Yes, I can. I am the only one of his men that can walk in the sun, so I can help you during the day. During the nights, I'll have to go back to William and pretend like nothing happened," he explained.

"Well, it sounds tempting. What do we think?" Gerard asked, looking right at Mikey.

Mikey looked at Chislett. "This goes against everything that I believe, and if Lucian knew that I was working with one of Beckett's men, he'd have a fit, but I don't care. I'm sick of waiting. Let's do this," he declared and Chislett nodded.


	15. A Little Less 15

In the next hour, Chislett told them everything that he could, from the location of the bunker to the watch schedule, and when the Dandies usually went out hunting. By the time he was done, there was only an hour left before sunset. Chislett took this opportunity to leave and collect his thoughts. Mikey followed him out. As he escorted him to the door, he put his hand on Chislett's shoulder.

"One thing, Chislett. If I find out that this is a scam and William was only using you to distract us, and if anything happens to those girls, I swear on my immortal life that I will hunt you down and personally tear you limb from limb," he said gravely, and Chislett knew that he was serious.

With that, Mikey shoved him out of the door and back into the sunlight. Chislett started walking in the direction of the mansion. He needed to put on his best poker face if he was to try and fool William. He cleared his mind of all thoughts of the meeting with Gerard and his men, and as the sun was setting, he walked back into the mansion.

The others were just starting to wake. At first, he was afraid that someone would stop him and ask him where he had gone today, but no one said anything. As one of the older vampires, the younger ones, including Mike Carden, usually just left him to his own devices.

The charade went on for the next three days. Every day, Chislett would go to Gerard and his men and divulge more secret information all while pretending to be William's loyal vampire at night. He didn't think anyone noticed he was gone during the day. Oh, how wrong he was.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

William Eugene Beckett, Jr was no dummy. He always knew when things were amiss, in his own city, and even in his own house. For the past week, Michael Guy Chislett had been acting different. None of the other vampires could notice, but hardly anything escaped William's astute vision. Whenever he looked at him, he noticed that there was something different in his eyes. Something was wrong, and he was intent on finding out on what it was. In this day and age, things like this were the secrets that kill.

It happened completely by accident. William had gotten up early in order to ask Chislett a question about the girls. He went to his room, but found it empty. That was not unusual. Michael almost always ventured outside. What was odd though, was when he came back an hour before sunrise, he smelled like a Lycan. It was nothing more than a hint of a smell, but it was enough. He called him into his office the moment he came upstairs.

"What's going on, William?" was his response.

"Oh, nothing. Please, have a seat," he said as he motioned for Michael to sit across from him.

He poured two glasses of blood and set one in front of Michael.

"So, how are the girls?" he asked, wanting to keep the conversation casual, so as to not alarm Michael.

"Miserable," he replied with a crooked smile. "I think they are starting to give up hope of being rescued."

"Good, that's exactly what I wanted. And how are Gerard and his men?" he asked innocently.

At this, a small tremor of fear flickered in his eyes before it was replaced by a look of confusion.

"I'm not really sure, sir. I haven't seen hide nor hair of them in almost a week," he replied earnestly, and to anyone else, it would have seemed genuine.

Unfortunately, William Beckett was not that person.

"All right, I was just curious. You know, I hate disobedience, but I hate liars even more. Good thing you aren't either of those, because if you were, that simply would not do," William said mischeviously, and he could practically hear Chislett start to sweat.

Having his proof, he let Chislett go. In order to punish him secretly, he put restrictions on what he could do and when he could do it, so that he could keep a closer eye on him. Unfortunately for William, Gerard's plan was already in motion, and no one could stop it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After three days, Gerard and his men knew everything that they could about the Dandies. One of the most crucial bits of information that Chislett had let slip was how close William was with Adam T. Siska, his youngest vampire. The two were closer than William was with any of his other sires, which gave Gerard a great idea.

"It's simple. If we want the girls back, let's propose a trade. Sisky for them," he suggested, and everyone was in agreement.

That night, the plan was fully put into action. At dusk, Bob summoned up a wild wind that blew gusts of wind around the entire city, making any sort of scent difficult to track. Mikey went to one end of the city, while Gerard went to the opposite end. Chislett had informed them that day that William planned to try and confront them, which was perfect. If William wanted to try and find them, he would need his strongest vampires with him, which meant the younger ones were guarding the girls.

Ray and Frank hid in the shadows and watched as the Dandies split up, all four of them in opposite directions. They only hoped that the wind that Bob had conjured up and Gerard and Mikey were enough to lead them astray long enough to enact their plan.

Once the vampires split up, the two walked quickly to the warehouse. Thankfully, earlier that day, Michael had given each of them a piece of his clothing so that their scents would be masked. If the two younger vampires were guarding the girls, they wouldn't be able to tell the different. They went inside the building that housed the underground bunker. The door to the bunker was locked tight.

"I got this," Ray said as he unclipped his bracelet. The power of 10,000 men flowed through his veins and his pointed horns peeked through his hair. He easily ripped the door clean off its hinges and placed it by the wall. He and Frank went down the stairs and turned left, as per Chislett's instructions. They came to another door and Frank could hear Butcher and Siska talking to someone.

"Aw, come on, doll, lighten up!" Butcher was saying.

Frank knocked on the door and the two hid around the corner. Frank heard one of them say, "It's Michael. Let him in."

Butcher opened the door and peeked his head out. He looked up and down the hallway, but saw no one. What's weirder, he could smell Chislett, but couldn't see him.

He turned around and closed the door, which was when the two came out of hiding. Ray took a running start and kicked the door down. The steel door went flying, crushing Butcher as it slammed into the wall. When Sisky saw who it was, he hissed and tried to fight them off. It was in vain, because they were clearly outmatched.

Sisky threw a punch at Frank, who easily caught it. Frank bent Sisky's arm backwards, not enough to snap it, but enough to force Sisky to his knees. He wrenched Sisky's arm behind his back and forced him to the ground. Meanwhile, Ray had easily grabbed Butcher and wrestled him to the ground as well. Ray held the two in place while Frank produced rope and cloth from his pocket. He tied their hands behind their back and put the cloths in his mouth as gags. Before he could do anything else, a voice snapped him out of his trance.

"Frank?" asked a voice behind him.

He turned around and found himself staring at Mikey's friend, Amelia. He had met her a few times. She was huddled in the corner with the Lycan girl resting her head in her lap. She got up and hugged Frank, who returned the gesture. When she stepped closer to him, he got a good look at her, and was shocked. This was not the Amelia he remembered. Her face was dirty, caked with dried blood and tear stains. She was also really thin, and her eyes were bruised from lack of sleep.

"Don't worry, hun, we're gonna get you out of here. Mikey's here too, and we're gonna fix this. Right now, though, I just need you two to be strong, okay? We'll come back for you. I promise. Now, go sit back down and pretend like we were never here, okay?" he said, and she nodded.

Frank walked back over to where Ray was still holding Butcher and Sisky. The two vampires were struggling in vain. Frank knelt down in front of them.

"Now, Butcher, we're going to take your friend Sisky here to use hum as bait. And you're not going to tell anyone, okay? If you do, I can assure you that I will come back and I will find you, and I will burn your body to a crisp. Do I make myself clear?" he asked quietly as he concentrated a small flame on the tip of his finger and touched it to Butcher's nose. He whimpered in pain, but nodded.

Beside him, Sisky growled, but Ray shut him up with a sucker punch to the back of the head and he was unconscious. Ray picked him up and threw him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. He carefully stood up, as did Frank. They left Butcher tied up in the middle of the room.

"Now remember, Butcher. Don't tell," Frank said in a sing-song voice as the two walked away, Sisky in tow.

Ray carefully put the two doors back on their hinges and the two ran back to the warehouse.

Frank's phone rang suddenly.

"Is it done?" came Gerard's voice from the other end.

"We have our bait," Frank replied.

"Good," Gerard said and hung up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	16. A Little Less 16

Of all the things Mikey and Gerard could make a point with, the group simply decided on drawing a picture of Sisky and sending it to the mansion, adding a simple note at the bottom.

After giving the picture to Chislett to deliver to William the next night and hoping things would go somewhat as anticipated, the group just had to wait.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chislett had walked back in from checking the mail, holding a single folded up sheet of paper, to which Beckett sensed something immediately seemed off.

"What's that?"

Chislett handed the note to William, who unfolded it and then curled his upper lip in a snarl, fangs bared.

"So they want to trade, do they?"

"Trade?" Chislett asked, acting confused.

"Yes, it appears they've captured one of our own and want us to give them the girls in exchange for Adam," he explained, almost smirking as the wheels in his mind began to turn.

If Gerard and his men wanted a trade, they would get a trade. Of course, it wouldn't exactly be fair.  
>Beckett wasn't about to let them go so easily, and definitely wasn't going to allow Gerard the satisfaction of one of his plans working. When he would show up with the girls, he would make it seem as though the trade would happen smoothly, but in all reality? Why have everything go right when causing trouble and hard feelings was just so much easier?<p>

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Beckett arrived at the midway point between his territory and the poor district in which Gerard and his men resided just at sundown. He walked in front, calm and collected. Mike and Brendon followed behind him, with Chislett behind them, dragging the girls. Siska and Butcher brought up the rear.

They were only there for about a minute before he saw Gerard and his men walking. Gerard, who was easily distinguished from the rest of them with his trademark red tie and his short black hair, was dragging Sisky behind him. The small tatooed vampire walked slightly behind him, with the oni to his right and the wizard to his left. Gerard's mangy mutt of a brother walked next to him. As they drew closer, Beckett could sense the tension in the air. It was thick enough to cut with a knife.

Gerard and his men walked until they were about 10 feet in front of them. He held Sisky's arm and placed him in front of him. Beckett nodded at Chislett, who threw the girls down to the ground.

"So I hear you're interested in trading your prisoner for mine?" Beckett asked.

Gerard nodded. "Yes."

"Very well. I have another stipulation, if that is all right with you. If I give you these girls, you must promise that you will never set foot in my city again. Furthermore, if you agree to that, then I promise that none of my men, myself included, will ever set foot inside your city. What do you say? Do we have a deal?" Beckett inquired.

Gerard looked at his men, who all nodded. "Sounds good to us."

"Very well, then. Now, before I give you these girls back, I have something I want to tell you, a secret if you will," Beckett said as he stepped closer to Gerard.

"Which is?"

"I lied," Beckett said, his lips ghosting gently over Gerard's ear.

He thrust his hand backwards, which sent the girls flying back. They landed at Chislett's feet. Chislett produced a gun from his pocket and placed it against the demon girl's temple.

"What the hell, Beckett? You said you would return them to us if we gave you Adam," Gerard yelled.

"That is true, but I never said that I would give them back alive. You see, I thought I would make it more interesting. Now, Michael there has a gun loaded with two special bullets. The first is a spirit bullet, blessed by the most powerful shamans ever. It kills any demonic entity with no hope of reincarnation. The second bullet is made of pure silver nitrate, which will fatally poison the Lycan. Two shots, and they're gone!" he exclaimed with a sick delight.

What Beckett did not know was that Chislett had changed the bullets for one of the girls' holy water bullets.

"You bastard! You wouldn't dare!" Mikey screamed and his body immediately began to shift.

"Watch me," Beckett said simply. He nodded at Chislett, who steadied his hand and cocked the gun. He readed his finger to press the trigger. He looked at Mikey, who was struggling to control his transformation. Mikey gave him a deadly look, but Chislett knew it was part of the plan.

Just as the demon girl had squeezed her eyes shut and prepared to die, Chislett did the unthinkable. He raised the gun and fired it at Sisky!

Poor Sisky had no idea what hit him, literally. The bullet entered his chest cavity and stayed there, the holy water sizzling momentarily before it dissolved Sisky's body right before their eyes.

Chislett glanced back at William, whose normally calm face was a mixture of pain, anger, disgust, hatred, loathing, and something else - sadness. This last look however, only flashed across his face momentarily before it was replaced by pure, primitive rage.

For a moment, all was still. Not even the summer wind blew.

Then all hell broke loose. William ran at Chislett with the intention of decimating him. The other vampires were too shocked to do anything. Just as William bore down on Chislett with a fiery hate gleaming in his eyes, thick clouds of black smoke filled the air, obscuring even the vampires' astute sight.

Chislett knew that Beckett would only be momentarily distracted, so he took the opportunity to run like hell, and run he did. He didn't stop until he was back at the base with Gerard and his men.

Eventually, the smoke cleared and Beckett saw Gerard and his men were nowhere to be found. He walked over to the pile of ash that used to be Adam T. Siska and regarded it with sadness, though he would never admit to such an emotion. He ran his fingers through the ash and spread it over the ground. He stayed like this, gently sifting the ashes on the ground for a while, until Brendon walked over and put his hand on his shoulder. As he opened his mouth to say something, Beckett hushed him and walked back towards the mansion.

If Gerard and his men wanted to play dirty, then so be it.


	17. A Little Less 17

"It worked. It actually worked!" Mikey had said excitedly after Gerard and the rest of the group had retreated to the warehouse. Chislett had killed Sisky instead of shooting the two girls like Beckett had told him to.

Of course he knew that Beckett wanted him dead now, but in retrospect, he'd always been what the demon girl had called 'a sheep'. He never felt anything for the leader, rather he only followed him out of fear and that sense of loyalty because he'd been 'saved'.

"So what do we do now?" Frank asked.

"Well, I'd say we let Beckett seethe for awhile, he'll get over what's happened eventually. I'm just afraid that if we wait too long something might happen to the girls…"

"Can't we just call Lucian already?" Mikey piped up, growing impatient, his heart already set on fixing the entire situation in an instant.

"No, we can't. We're still in a position where we could solve this matter ourselves, we just have to give it some time," Gerard explained.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile, back at the Dandies' mansion, Beckett had other plans. 'Giving it time' was just about the last thing on his mind. He wanted revenge, but he knew he had to go about it carefully. One wrong step could have repercussions he couldn't afford to pay.

Picking up his phone, he knew just who to call to get the plan started.

"Hello?"

"Gabriel, it's William. I've got a little situation and I could use some help."

"Talk to me…what's going on?"

"You know those two girls you ran into? Well, we've captured them, but it seems their 'friends' have arrived trying to rescue them. Their friends, I should mention, do not necessarily enjoy playing by the rules. Michael has also joined them, and…as much as I hate to say this, I've lost Adam."

"Lost? Like what?"

"He's dead."

Gabe was stunned into silence. He wanted to ask how and why, but William read his mind, literally.

"Well, the girls happen to know Gerard Way, so he and his brother and their friends have come to try and rescue them. They kidnapped Adam and offered to trade him for the girls. Naturally, I wasn't going to give them back alive, and I was going to have Michael kill them. That's where things got…well, let's just say instead of the girls being killed, it was someone unplanned and unexpected."

"So you're saying Michael shot Adam?" Gabe asked in disbelief.

"I saw it. He must have exchanged the bullets in the gun when I hadn't noticed, because I remember loading that gun with a single holy bullet and a silver nitrate one. He must have gotten into the girls' weaponry…they sure came loaded."

"Yeah, I know…so….what can I help with?"

"I want you to spy on Gerard and his men. I don't know where their little base is, but I know it's in my city. Find it, and find out their plans, if you can. I want to know every single detail of what they intend to do to get these girls back."

Gabe nodded over the line, "No problem. A little espionage is just the thing I need. I'll start looking around town tonight, seeing if I can pinpoint possible locations they'd be hiding at."

"Thank you. And…Gabe?" William asked, wanting to leave a final piece of advice for the man he'd once known as an enemy, as the Dandies and the Cobras had once not gotten along well, "Yeah?"

"Be careful. Don't underestimate anyone."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gabe didn't waste any time that night, going out and starting to look for places that Gerard and his men might be hiding in. He didn't focus on the inner-city, that would be too obvious. He needed to look for places that were almost on the outskirts, would not be in use by regular public.

Coming across an abandoned factory just pass the outskirts of town, Gabe smiled. Changing into his cobra form, he slithered through the grass and up to the concrete building. The building was old and certainly decrepit, a perfect hiding spot for someone that didn't want to be found. As he looked for a hole he could sneak into, he heard muffled voices.

"Great…so now what? Beckett's going to take it out on the girls somehow, I know it!"

"Mikey, calm down… we'll figure out a way to save them sooner or later. I think if we take this slow, clear our heads and think, we'll be alright. We can't call Lucian right away, although you want to. If things get bad enough I promise we will."

Gabe's eyes widened. On the first try he'd found them! Beckett was going to be incredibly surprised that he had found Gerard's men so fast.

Slipping into a hole in the old wall, he could see just who was talking to. He wanted to listen in more, really find out what their plans were, but a sudden voice startled him.

"HEY!" Before Gabe had time to realize what happened, a bright flame was blocking his vision. The heat causing him to retreat, he realized he'd been found out.

"Bob, what was that for?" Gabe heard Michael ask.

He knew he'd better not stay to hear the rest, so, as he headed to find another area where he could access the inside of the old warehouse, he debated just going back and telling William he'd already found them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Saw a snake, looked like a cobra… I thought old buildings have mice and spiders, not snakes." Bob told the others.

Chislett and Mikey turned to look at each other, "That's not just any snake."

"Not just any snake? What is it then?"

"It's not in it, it's a him. Gabe Saporta. He's one of William's friends…" Chislett explained; a confused expression on his face.

"Why would he be here?" Gerard wondered.

"Don't you see? Beckett wants revenge… I think he's spying on us…" Mikey realized. Chislett nodded, "I'd agree. We have to act fast. We need to find Gabe, and as much as I hate saying this, kill him. If he gets back to William… everything that you've done so far, doesn't mean anything."

Everyone else nodded.

Heading back outside, each equipped with glass jars thanks to Bob's magic, they started looking for the snake.

"Here!" Mikey yelled, after seeing the undeniable path in the grass that would've only been made by a snake sliding across the ground.

Not a minute later, he had the snake in the glass jar, surprised when it fit.

"You get it?" Frank called.

"Yeah, and damn the sucker's huge! They venomous?"

Chislett laughed, "That one? Nah, mate, he's harmless. What do the rest of you say to some interrogation? Let's figure what he knows, and then, just because I believe we have to, kill him?"

Everyone but Mikey and Gerard nodded.

"I've got a better idea."


	18. A Little Less 18

After forcing the cobra to return to his human form, Ray had easily subdued the vampire, who, although he fought like a caged animal, was no match for the oni. They place him in a chair and Frank tied him to the chair, tight enough to break the ribs of any normal mortal. The six of them stood around him, gazing down. He refused to meet any of their eyes.

"Why are you here?" Mikey demanded.

"You really expect me to explain?" he retorted.

"Well, let's see, you're one of William's friends. He's obviously behind you being here." Chislett said, internally smiling at the cringe the sentence produced.

"So were you, if I remember. Why are you with these guys, Michael? They're nobodies…"

"Nobodies? Do you want to say that again?" Gerard growled, looking at his brother who nodded, reaching for a knife in his pocket.

"You're nobodies." Gabe repeated, snark seeping in each word.

"If I'm a nobody, why do I control as much territory in Jersey as your precious Bilvy does here in Chicago?" Gerard shot back as Mikey passed him the small but brutally effective hunting knife.

"Does that matter? Once Beckett finds out where you are, him and the other Dandies will destroy you, and you'll never see those girls again. You should hear the way they plead after they're beaten…it's pathetic really, like they actually expect that-" Gabe never finished his sentence, because the minute he'd started talking about Amelia and AJ, Mikey grabbed the knife back and quite literally jabbed it into Gabe's hand, delighting in the blood appearing in the gash.

"At least we know why you're here, rat." Frank muttered, motioning with his eyes to Gerard and then to Mikey and the knife.

"So you're sent to spy on us. Beckett really can be stupid sometimes, despite his age. Did he really think he was getting you back if you were found out?" Ray added.

"Apparently so…you wouldn't kill me, now, would you? Everyone knows that Mr. I Control Jersey is nowhere near as sadistic as Beckett. You wouldn't kill me; you don't have the guts to." Gabe taunted, not realizing what he was getting himself into.

Mikey twisted the knife still wedged in the vampire's hand, causing Gabe to yelp in pain.

"You're right. We wouldn't kill you, we're just going to use you to make a point," he explained as he removed the blade, only to hand it to his brother, "Right Gerard? You mess with our friends, you mess with us. We're going to destroy you, along with the Dandies. Mark my words." Mikey finished as Gabe's eyes drifted to the vampire he had once talked to as a friend.

"Michael? You can't let them do this to me, whatever they're going to do…can you?"

The Australian vampire shrugged, "You've allied yourself with the wrong crowd, it seems. What William's doing to those girls? It's not right…they've done nothing wrong, and all Mike and Brendon have done is obey William and punish the girls simple for existing, in my opinion. I don't agree with any of it, and I want them safe."

Gabe looked around the group, growing slightly more concerned each second as they almost began to smile, right before he felt a sharp pain in his wrist and began to scream.

The knife was lodged in his wrist, immediately blood began to flow from the entry point. Every second brought more pain, and more of his blood leaving his body. Then Gabe knew, this point they were so desperate to make? It involved his hand getting cut off.

Before they allowed Gabe to stumble away, Gerard grabbed a piece of paper and wrote something on it. He signed it and showed it to Mikey. Mikey nodded and signed his name as well. Gerard then crumbled the piece of paper into a ball and stuffed it in Gabe's other hand, which was still attached to his body. Gabe just wanted to leave as quickly as he could and as he left, still clutching the bloody stump where his hand had been, Gerard called, "Oh Gabe, make sure William gets that note!"

He turned around to look at the six of them as his arm continued spilling blood all over his nice white Armani suit and said quite plainly, "_Vayan al diablo_."

He walked slowly out of the warehouse and back down the street cradling his bleeding stump in his good arm. He desperately needed something to eat, but the streets were deserted. His body tried to heal itself, but he had lost too much blood already.

His feet carried him in the direction of the mansion, each step more difficult than the last. Gabe knew that he was going to die. There was no way he would be able to come back from something like this. With that fresh in his mind, he was all the more determined to make it to the mansion. He walked as fast as his present situation would allow.

Eventually, the mansion loomed in front of him. He gritted his teeth as he walked up the hill to the door. His legs were screaming for rest, and if his heart had still beaten, it would have been thudding in his chest. Finally, he made it to the door. With his still functional hand, he knocked on the door as hard as he could.

In less than a minute, the door open and there stood Mike.

He gasped. Here was Gabe, someone whom he had come to respect, looking like he was on the verge of death, again. His white suit was covered in blood that was coming from his left arm. Mike noticed that this arm was missing a hand! Gabe's eyes were bugging out of his head and his breath came in short gasps. His face was covered in sweat.

"Well, are you gonna just stand there gawking, or are you going to let me in?" he asked harshly.

Mike nodded and let Gabe inside. As Gabe stepped across the threshold, he swooned and fell over.

Mike yelled for William, who was there in an instant. He caught Gabe as he fell and was shocked at the sight of him, bloody and disoriented.

William gently sank down to his knees and held the injured Cobra in his arms, his head in his lap.

"Gabe, what happened?" he asked, genuine concern breaking through his voice.

Gabe took in a shaky breath before answering.

"I did what you asked me too, but they found me out. They interrogated me, and this is what happened," he replied while gesturing to his arm.

William gently stroked his hair in a comforting manner.

"And Michael?"

"He was there. He said...he didn't agree...with what you were doing. He said he was going to destroy you. The Lycan..." he said as his voice trailed off.

"Go fetch me a washcloth," William demanded of Brendon, who had come to see what the noise was about.

When Brendon returned, William began to wipe the sweat from Gabe's face. This was not good. Gabe's eyes fluttered shut, but William gently coaxed him back to consciousness.

"What about the Lycan, Gabe? What did he say?" he asked quietly.

"He...he said...to prepare for war. God, Bill, I sure know how to go out with a bang, don't I?" he laughed, his breathing now even more labored.

William half-smiled. "You sure do."

"I hope...I hope they have dry cleaning where I'm going," Gabe said as he breathed his last breath.

His head rolled to the side as his body gave a final shudder.

He was gone.

William said nothing for a few moments and all was quiet. He just sat there, stroking Gabe's hair. He didn't even notice that Gabe's arm was still getting blood all over his nice suit.

After a few moments, he removed Gabe's head from his lap and rolled him on his back. He closed Gabe's eyes and his mouth. When he did, he noticed that his other hand was clenched in a fist. He gently pried Gabe's cold hand open, and a scrap of paper fell out.

He stood up and turned to look at Mike, Butcher, and Brendon, who were all eyeing the paper curiously.

He unfurled the paper and read it. He handed it to Mike, who read it and stared at William, mouth agape.

On the piece of paper, scrawled in Gerard's messy handwriting, was the name Sara Ann Way, and the dates 1845-1862. At the bottom, the note was signed Gerard Arthur Way and Michael James Way.

William and Mike both looked at each other. This could only mean one thing. 


	19. A Little Less19

_**Flashback**_

The year was 1862. William Beckett was travelling to Georgia in order to do business with a vampire named Butch Walker. With him, he had brought his two fledgling sires, Thomas Conrad, and Michael Carden.

The trip up to this point had been going well. They were going to rest in the Jersey area for the morning and decided to get something to eat before the sun rose.

The autumn moon was high in the sky, illuminating all that they saw. The three of them walked through the forest in search of any animals to eat. William had told them to only look for animals, because he didn't want to deal with the repercussions of hunting on another vampire's land.

William had allowed Tom to go off on his own because, despite him only being a vampire for 25 years, he was an excellent tracker. He would have no problem finding an animal, killing it, and returning back to them.

Mike Carden, on the other hand, was still very wild and reckless. He needed to be watched constantly. He waited patiently as William fed on a deer before venturing to find his own food.

Mike Carden though, was not stupid. He knew that he was gifted with creating illusions that could fool even the most gifted vampire. William was annoying him, so while he fed, he conjured up an illusion that would make William think that Mike was right next to him, when in fact, he was walking the opposite direction.

Mike Carden ambled along the moonlit path, his still new preternatural senses on overdrive. He smelled everything, from the dead leaves to the animal droppings, and he could hear everything, right down to the ants that walked beneath him. It was truly amazing

The autumn breeze blew lightly, when he suddenly caught another scent. It was a girl.

He walked forward and hid behind a tree. From his spot, he could see a young girl, about 17, sitting on the forest ground. Her raven hair fell in ringlets around her face and she was wearing a powder blue dress. She was drawing something in the dirt with a stick and then placed some candles on the ground. She muttered some words that Mike couldn't understand and then picked up a dagger that was sitting on the ground. She sliced the palm of her hand open and said more words. There was a puff of smoke, but nothing else.

She cursed under her breath, unusual for a lady and tried to start again. Mike deduced that she was a witch.

The smell of blood was driving him crazy. He ran from his tree and hid behind one that was closer to the girl. She seemed unaware that he was there. He backed up in order to get a better look, and made a fatal mistake. He stepped on a twig, the crack reverberating throughout the forest.

The girl immediately looked up, her eyes scanning the forest.

"Hello? Is anyone there? Michael? Gerard?" she called, unsure.

When she had her back turned, Mike took the opportunity to pounce.

He came up behind her and covered her mouth with his hand. Without a word, he savagely sunk his fangs into her neck and greedily drank her blood.

He was being quite sloppy, which William would not have approved of. In his haste to drink all of the delicious blood, he ripped her throat and spilled the blood everywhere.

He continued to drink long after her body went limp in his arms. He dropped her to the ground and wiped his mouth.

Suddenly, he was being grabbed from behind and thrown up against a tree. William stood in front of him, his eyes blazing with fury. He held Mike up against the tree by his throat. Mike struggled pitifully.

"What did you do?" William whispered, each word enunciated with emphasis.

"I...found something...to eat," he choked out, which caused Willam to squeeze his throat tighter.

"Did you not hear me when I said that you were to only feed from animals? Who is she? What was she doing here?" he demanded

"I don't know. I just found her," Mike said truthfully as he groaned in pain.

William finally let his body drop to the ground and Mike gently massaged his throat as he stood up.

"We will discuss this when we get home. Let's just find Tom and get out of here," William said.

As they turned back in the direction from which they had came, William suddenly stopped.

He grabbed Mike and shoved him behind a tree. He covered his mouth with his gloved hand and shushed him.

"Don't make a sound," he said, his voice low.

_'Why?' asked Mike telepathically._

_'Someone's coming,' William replied. _William began to mouth words under his breath, an ancient incantation to hide his presence from whomever was approaching.

The two peeked out from behind the tree and soon, they heard voices.

"Sara Ann! Sara Ann! Where are you?" called a male voice.

"It's time for supper," yelled a different one.

Up ahead, they saw two men walk into the clearing. One was of average height with black hair and a slightly pudgy face. William identified him as Gerard Way, a young vampire whom he had run into on occasion.

Beside him walked a tall and svelte young man with straight brown hair and spectacles. William's nose wrinkled. He was a Lycan, and from the smell of it, a young one.

"Where could she be? She said she wouldn't go far," said the black haired man to his companion. His companion shrugged.

They walked into the middle of the clearing where Mike had left her body. Both of the men's noses sniffed the air and looked at the crumpled form lying in the middle of the forest floor. They ran to her.

"Sara!" yelled one of them.

The two of them ran to the body and knelt down.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Michael and Gerard Way had just gotten told to go find their sister. Their parents wanted her back in the house before they went hunting. Gerard's mom had fixed supper for her daughter. The rest of the family didn't need to eat, because their father was a vampire, like her oldest son, and she was a werewolf, like her other son. Their daughter, a witch, still needed to eat.

The two of them walked out of the cottage and toward the forest near their house. They lived in a rural area of New Jersey and the forest was perfect for their sister, who used it to practice magic.

The two walked quickly and quietly, the Lycan being able to keep up with his vampire brother easily, despite being 137 years his junior.

When they came upon the spot where she had said she would be, they called her name, so they wouldn't frighten her.

"Sara Ann! Sara Ann! Where are you?" yelled Gerard.

"It's time for supper," Michael announced.

As they walked closer, they noticed a strange smell. There was blood all over the ground floor, and it smelled like witches blood.

The two brothers looked at one another as they walked into a clearing.

"Where could she be? She said she wouldn't go far," Gerard said.

Michael shrugged.

In the middle of the clearing there lay a body, crumpled on the ground.

Gerard could recognize that blue dress and dark hair from a mile away.

"Sara!" he yelled, and ran towards her, Michael in tow.

The two knelt down next to the body and were confronted by a grisly sight. There was blood all over the front of her dress, and her throat was torn.

They gasped, and Michael threw up in the grass next to her.

After wiping his mouth, he gently picked his sister up and cradled her in his arms. Her eyes fluttered open, and she made an attempt to talk, but all she could manage was a gurgle.

Gerard gently shushed her and ran his fingers through her hair.

"Don't worry, Sara. We're going to find whoever did this. They're going to pay. Believe me, they're gonna pay," he murmured.

She looked at her brothers one last time before her eyes closed, and her heart stopped.

Michael held her to his chest and sobbed. He let out an anguished howl, and Gerard bowed his head, tears running down his face.

Suddenly, both of their heads snapped up. Someone was coming.

As the stranger got closer, Michael could smell blood on him, and he could still see some on his mouth.

Before Gerard had a chance to stop him, Michael jumped up and shifted into his werewolf form. He ran at the intruder and savagely dismembered him, steaming piles of blood and entrails spilling everywhere. Poor guy didn't even know what hit him. It took Gerard almost a half hour to calm his brother down. By that time, their parents came looking for them and they discovered that their daughter had been murdered.

After their sister was killed, Michael, now going by Mikey, and Gerard swore revenge on whomever killed their sister.  
><strong><br>****Present day****  
><strong>  
>William and Mike had been staring at each other for about five minutes, obviously lost in some kind of reverie. Brendon cautiously approached them and put a hand on Mike's shoulder, who jumped and turned on Brendon, fangs bared.<p>

When he saw who it was, he apologized.

"What was that all about?" Butcher asked.

"Nothing, just remembering something that happened a long time ago," Mike said.

"It seems like the Way brothers finally have their revenge. She bled out, and so did he. If I were you, Mike, I would make sure that they don't come after you next," William said, and Mike walked away in a huff.

When they all heard the door to Mike's room slam, William explained.

"You see, it was more than a century and a half ago. I had to go do some business with Butch Walker, and we took the long way to Georgia. When we stopped in Jersey for the morning, we all fed. It was Mike, myself, and another vampire named Tom Conrad. Long story short, Mike, being young and stupid, killed a girl. This girl though, was Mikey and Gerard's younger sister. They swore revenge on whomever killed her," he explained.

"How did they know it was Mike?" Brendon asked.

"They didn't find out until almost 60 years ago. Gerard and I got into a tussle over something, and he bit me. He saw my memories, which included that day. That's how he figured out it was Mike, and they swore they'd kill whoever killed her."

"Is that why Mikey tore out Mike's throat?" Butcher wondered,

William nodded grimly. "That would be my assumption. But, it wouldn't surprise me if he did it simply because Mike overstepped his bounds. He has a habit of doing that," William admitted.

"But why Gabe?"

"Gabe was someone who we were both close to. Mike really looked up to him, so this was their way of getting back at the both of us."

"What do we do now?"

"Kill the girls to get back at them. An eye for an eye," William declared with an evil smile.


	20. A Little Less 20

"Hey Amelia…you ever think we came here for the wrong reasons?" AJ asked, trying to comb her fingers through her blood-matted blonde hair.

"Wrong reasons?"

"Face it, we knew this job was going to kill us…this killing other creatures when they've done nothing to us? It wasn't right from the start. We're only getting what we deserve."

"Don't talk like that! You know Gerard and his friends are working hard to save us!" Amelia shot back, scared more each second at how Aj's attitude seemed to be changing.

"But what if it's not worth it anymore, Rae? What if we're better off dead? What if-" she stopped short as the door to the underground bunker opened, and a figure stepped in.

"Hello girls…mind if I visit for a little while?"

Amelia sighed and immediately heightened her senses as William walked closer to their cell.

William didn't fail to notice what she'd done, and he knew she was still the same as the day he'd first captured her, thinking clearly and definitely wanting to be anywhere else but there. The lycan girl, on the other hand, seemed to smile sadly at him as he approached, and in her eyes he saw something peculiar. They appeared to almost hold a glimmer of hope.

"What are you doing here? Why not have your buddies come fetch us, torture us some more…" Amelia trailed off, glaring.

"Would you prefer I leave you alone in this silence?" Beckett offered, already knowing her response.

"Yes!" she snapped, obviously wanting him to go away. None to his surprise, the lycan girl stayed quiet.

"And what about you, little lycan?" he walked closer still, until he was almost able to touch the metal bars of the cell, "You don't seem so quick to object to my presence."

Beckett realized his earlier technique had worked. How easy she would be to control…

She turned to look at him, her bloodied and cracked lips almost turning up at the corners into a small grin before they parted and whispered shakily, "Stay."

As soon as the word left her mouth, Amelia's hand hit the back of her head.

"Are you out of your mind?"

"No… I just…"

"Lost hope?" Beckett volunteered.

The Lycan nodded, looking at the ground before looking back at him, "you could say that."

Now knowing one of the girls could easily be under his control, Beckett needed to separate them to truly put his plan into action, to completely turn them against each other.

"Well… perhaps you could find some if you come with me? The boys and I could put you to work cleaning and such… of course still be a leash so to say, but it's better than what you're in now isn't it?"

She nodded, reaching for the bars that enclosed the cell the girls were in. Beckett, finding the key to unlock the cell in his coat pocket, unlocked the cell and opened the bars just wide enough for the Lycan to slip out. The demon girl scowled at her friend as she took Beckett's hand, the Lycan yelping slightly at how cold Beckett was.

"I can't believe you… how could you do this?" Amelia asked as Beckett relocked the cell.

"I see no other option... if we don't beat them, we'll die – I'd rather join them and have a chance at a somewhat normal life."

"Normal? You're a lycan! In a house full of vampires! That will never be normal! Your best chance at love could be what kills you!" Amelia protested.

AJ looked at Beckett and then back at Amelia, "At least I'd have a chance."

As Beckett and AJ walked away, Amelia pondered what had just happened. She could feel the demon itching to take action.

'_My child how could you let her betray you like such? Surely you must have seen the signs!' _Illshya chastised.

'_My lady, forgive me… I didn't see what was going on… hey relay she'd indeed lost hope it will stop her from betraying me. Unless, she has a plan and that's why she's doing this…'_

'_Or she's doing it to protect you.'_

'_Protect me? From what?'_

'_Beckett. Perhaps she is sacrificing herself.'_

'_But why would-'_

'_Because she cares.'_

When Beckett and AJ finally reached the mansion, she suddenly felt as though something in her mind had clicked.  
>Like she was supposed to be there, despite everything that had happened.<p>

Heading inside, Beckett led her to the kitchen, noticing how her gaze lingered on the cabinet that held the blood bags. He didn't think lycans liked blood, but if it would get her to listen to him, he'd try it,

Grabbing one and handing it to her, she looked at it with a puzzled expression, then back at him.

"Just try it. I know it's not real food, but it's pretty much all we have." He explained.

She nodded, twisting the cap off and draining it in seconds, not caring how it tasted, forgetting to lick her lips.

Knowing that a good connection with the victim was key to any mental reconstruction, William debated the very thing that would set his plan in action, and in so being one step closer to having the demon girl dead. But seeing the blood staining her lips, and her current condition...how had to fix that, make her believe he could fix that.

So, without warning, as she was looking around, he pulled her closer, almost smiling at her squeak of surprise before his lips were against hers.

* * *

><p>AJ had just been standing in the kitchen, trying to remember why she was there in the first place when all of a sudden all thought process was disrupted. All she was really aware of was that she was being kissed.<p>

When William finally pulled back, her hazel eyes searched his for an answer.

"You were wandering around Chicago at night, and with the things that creep around here at night, I couldn't stand to leave you. You've got no family, and...well, last night, when I brought you here, you outright told me you loved me, although we'd just met." he lied, smiling as she nodded and then yawned.

"Oh...no wonder I'm so tired...I must have been walking all day...I need to lay down..." she whined, rubbing her eyes.

William nodded, "I'd think that would be for the best. Do you want me to walk you up?" he offered, holding out his hand.

She reached out to grab it, and then yawned again.

Not five minutes later they were in an extra bedroom a little ways down the hall from William's office. He'd decided to allow her to sleep there so he could keep an eye on her.

As she climbed into the bed and he pulled the covers over her, he thought he saw the first of what he would call the reconstructed smile, she actually seemed to be believing everything he'd told her.

He gazed down at her relaxed form, already the built up tension and constant sense of alertness seemed to dissipate the second she had laid down. Her eyelids fluttered closed and her breathing had slowed, almost to the point where he could tell she was asleep.

"I'll be in my office if you need me, okay? Just sleep, darling...you need it." he murmured, leaning down to kiss her forehead before getting up and walking towards the door.

"Mmhhh..." he heard her sigh as he closed the door behind him, walking into his office. As he sat down, he thought about everything that had happened. Firstly, she'd believed him. Secondly, she would continue to believe him as long as he kept this game up. But that's just it, to William, it was no more than a game.

Although he could say the things he'd said with ease, enough conviction to make her believe him, he didn't truly mean them. He was long past feelings of any kind, for anyone, let alone some lycan girl that had arrived in his city to kill him. Of course, in the end, he wouldn't be the one who was dead.

Waking up later, with no idea what time it was, AJ was surprised when she found a note next to her pillow. The only message it contained told her she could pretty much explore the mansion, as long as she didn't disturb anything.

Immediately the thought of a nice hot shower popped into her head, being finally able to feel clean for the first time in weeks.

Making her way to the bathroom, she was surprised to find a new set of clothes already laid out for her along with a towel on top of the toilet seat. Here though, was another note.

'These might not fit, but it's what I could find in the local stores that I thought might fit you. It's a little fancier then what I found you in, so hopefully you like it.'

Not even bothering to look at what William had laid out for her, AJ started a shower and stripped, startled to see bruises and multiple lacerations covering her body.

She tried to think about how they'd gotten there, and then she remembered.

She had been exploring Chicago at night, and somehow she'd been cornered by one of the local gangs. She could remember tasting blood, but then all of a sudden all she could think about was William, how he'd appeared out of nowhere and saved her, bringing her back to the mansion.

She sighed, climbing into the shower. This week sure had been... eventful.

Getting out twenty minutes later and drying off, she finally looked at the clothes that were laid out for her.

It certainly was fancier than what she would normally wear, and the colors were dark.

A pair of black sheer lace leggings were on top of a black knee length pleated skirt, and on top of that was a white lace trimmed camisole with a black knotted front cardigan resting on top of that.

After she'd gotten dressed, she found shoes underneath the clothes. The shoes were plain black flats, lined with sherpa fabric. Slipping into them, she realized these were much more comfortable then the chuck taylor's she'd been wearing.

To her surprise, everything fit perfectly. She didn't realize how hungry she was, and as she walked back to the kitchen, William's words rang in her ears.

Going into the cabinet where she had seen the blood bags, she grabbed a few and greedily drank them down, becoming used to the taste after only a few days. As she turned around to walk back to her room, she got the feeling it was almost nightfall, because she could hear muffled voices from upstairs.

Walking back up towards her room, she smiled as she could hear William talking to his men.

"Now, you know that the demon girl still isn't falling for any of our plans. although Adeline is complying nicely. It won't be long before she-" there was a slight pause just as AJ reached the top of the landing, the closest door to her the one leading to William's office, to which she heard him call, "Adeline, dear, come in...I'm only discussing the current plans for the weekend.,"


	21. A Little Less 21

Hesitantly AJ entered, not looking at him, but instead studying the carpet.

"What plans?"

Here William turned to look at the two men standing in front of his desk, the ones AJ had learned were named Mike Carden and Brendon Urie, and nodded, "You two are dismissed."

As Brendon and Mike left, William continued.

"We're going out hunting soon, and I know how painful your transformations are, being this Saturday is a full moon," He started, smiling.

"Yeah...how'd you know? I didn't think-"

"Those vampires that were after you? They knew you were a lycan...I haven't seen you turn yet, but I'm betting it's more painful than most events any mortal could experience. Therefore I've decided, if you'd so agree, to fix that for you."

AJ looked up at William, "You mean?"She asked hopefully, walking toward him, not surprised when he seemed to motion for her to come closer.

Before she realized what she was doing, AJ found herself straddling William's lap, her legs on either side of his body, her body pressing against his. Absentmindedly she looked up into his brown eyes, he gazing back into her hazel ones. He wanted to kiss her right then, make her realize what she meant to him, but he knew he'd better let her start.

Realizing the vampire's eyes seemed to be clouding slightly with desire, AJ leaned even closer, lightly sucking at his Adam's apple, noticing the purr coming from the back of his throat as one of his hands fisted in her hair, pulling her lips up to his. Almost immediately William felt her lips open against his, and although he wanted so desperately to explore her further, he knew there was a better place and time.

As gently as he could, he pushed her slightly away, enough so he could talk; while still remaining close enough to know she was expecting more.

"Not in my office, dear." He murmured against her ear, kissing her hair before standing, maneuvering her so she was cradled in his arms.

"Well, then where?" she whispered breathlessly, adrenaline already beginning to make her body tingle at the realization things would possible escalate too fast for her to comprehend.

"There's a reason your room is across the hall…it's not only so I can keep an eye on you," William reasoned.

AJ only nodded as William carried her across the hall to the room she'd slept in the night before.

As soon as he set her down on the bed and sat next to her, she began talking, which he assumed was a nervous habit.

"I'm sorry…I just don't know what came over me, I know that's your office and I just-" he put a finger to her lips, silencing her momentarily.

"Back to what I was saying. I know how hard your transformations must be, how much it must hurt," he started gently, absentmindedly running his fingers through her blonde streaked red hair. Oh how beautiful it was when it wasn't caked with blood…

She sighed and nodded at the same time, "I'm still not used to it, even after fifteen years…I was three when I got bit. 'Course that's why I have no parents. I think I told you that already, though, and-" She noticed his smile and internally face-palmed. Why was she explaining all this when he already knew?

"After tonight, I promise you, that'll never hurt that bad again. There's a certain way vampire vemon reacts with the lycan DNA in one's cells. Initially the vemon's effects will make you feel as if you're dying, but it's really not as bad as you think," he reassured, although he mentally cringed as he remembered the day he was turned, almost three hundred years ago.

She looked at him, doubt practically pouring out of her eyes. Before she laid down on the bed, she gingerly pulled the cardigan off and slipped out of her skirt, leaving her only in the lace leggings and ruffled white camisole.

William raised an eyebrow as he looked over AJ's body, the vampire's astute eyes were picking up scars any normal mortal may have thought were from skateboarding or biking accidents or simply falling down and scraping a knee one too many times. But William knew better, these were the scars of lycan that had grown into the transformations of the years, her bones breaking and resettling leave reminders in their wake.

She laid down on the bed and stretched out, looking at him nervously.

"Just trust me..." he murmured, turning to AJ, cupping her face with his hands, surprised that she didn't flinch at how cold he was.

She gulped, and then nodded, as if to say, 'I do.'

He leaned down to kiss her forehead to reassure her, and here is where she shut her eyes tight against what was happening, perhaps to calm herself down. William smiled; this plan was all going too easy.

Realizing she was still, William gently turned her head, surprised at the small whimper leaving her lips.

"I'm not going to hurt you, darling. I'll be as gentle as I can," he soothed, caressing her cheek with his fingers.

Those long fingers. At first touch, a shudder passed through AJ. She didn't want him to be where he was, she wanted to be under the covers, those hands holding her tightly, nails digging into her skin leaving marks in the midst of passion.

Taking a breath, AJ succumbed to her thoughts as William finally decided it was time, lips easily locating the central vein in neck.

It felt like the full moon all over again. Most of her bones breaking and rearranging couldn't describe this, this...intense burn. It was as though every nerve was on fire; even her ability to talk had been compromised, leaving her only able to scream.

But screaming did no good. How could she just tell him to kill her already?

In retrospect, had she seen this coming, she probably wouldn't have allowed him the opportunity to do this. Every second felt like years, paralyzing her body, making her unable to - everything.

She doesn't realize how badly it's affecting her body until she opens her eyes, the world spinning around her.

She's able to focus on William though, she can feel him biting her, and she wants to reach out and grab his hand, and...'He's lucky it's not a full moon...I'd kill him for doing this to me' she thought.

Suddenly she feels him pull away, the motion causing her to whine, but this is abruptly cut off as William leans down and kisses her. She can taste her own blood on his lips, and...why is there a lingering after taste of fear? She's got no reason to be afraid.

When he releases her lips, she takes a breath, finding her throat is dry, as though she had been walking in the desert for days without water.

As if William had read her mind, he shrugged off his jacket and pulled up his sleeve, dragging a finger across his forearm, the nail digging deep into pale flesh to draw blood.

Immediately AJ turned to focus on his arm, the scent of the blood overwhelming the lycan, who licked at her lips as William leaned closer and offered her his arm.

She almost smiled before she licked at the slick line of scarlet, before opening her mouth and biting down where the cut seemed deepest.

William closed his eyes and tilted his head back, it had been a long time since a girl had fed like this, and as far as his standards went, AJ was being rather greedy.

Gently removing her mouth from his arm, he looked up into her eyes only to see that mouth had contorted into a scowl.

"Are you honestly angry or are you just upset because you didn't get your fill?" he asked as she glared.

"I want more...baby you taste so good! Pl-" she whined, sitting up and leaning toward him again, her lips managing to brush against his wrist before he moved away, almost as though he was teasing her.

"Rest." he said, pretending to sound stern, although AJ could tell he was only playing.

"But Bi-"

"Rest, dear. Tomorrow I'm taking you out, we have some work to do, and I want you ready for it." he repeated, adding the incentive that if she complied, there'd be a reward. Reluctantly she nodded, "Fine. One last kiss?"

William looked at her, realizing his plan had worked. Well, she was under his control now completely.

He kissed her lightly on the lips and then stood up, humming something as he walked back to his office.

Wiping the kiss off his lips, William Beckett smiled. The poor hybrid was now wrapped around his finger.

Too bad it would mean the death of her.


	22. A Little Less 22

Amelia was pissed as hell. It had been almost three days since AJ had left. At first, she had just been sad at the thought of losing her best friend to the likes of William Beckett. Shortly thereafter, though, the sadness had just been replaced by pure rage, animalistic and volatile. How could they do that? It just wasn't right.

She was pacing around the cell, muttering angrily to herself. She was having a heated argument with the demon.

_'Child, you must calm yourself. This anger does nothing but cloud your judgment,' came the voice inside her head._

_'My lady, how can I calm myself? Who knows what they're doing to her at the mansion? I swear, when I get my hands on Beckett, I'll...' she trailed off, too angry to put words to her feelings._

_'Well, at this time,you can't do anything. You must be calm,' and blah blah blah._

_Amelia tuned the demon out, which wasn't easy. She was busy thinking of a plan._

_'If only I could find Mikey. He would be able to help,' she thought, and she heard the demon sigh._

_'Child, calm yourself. I know you are angry, and I know the full moon is coming up, and it's making you restless. But if you truly want to think of a plan, you need to think rationally. Use the skills you've honed as an assassin, and think of something.'_

She was right and Amelia knew it. It took a lot of effort, but eventually, she stopped pacing and sat down. She sat down and took a few deep breaths, which helped to calm her down. Once her mind was clear, she could begin to think rationally again.

She sat in silence for almost an hour, contemplating all of her options. She finally decided on the best one, and now sat back at waited for the perfect opportunity.

The next evening, the full moon was even closer, and Amelia was even more riled up. Tonight was the night that she would enact her plan.

Although she did not know what time it was, she knew it must be night. A small time passed in which she ran through the plan once more in her head. When she heard two sets of footsteps approaching, she smiled to herself and muttered, "Look alive, sunshine."

A minute later, Mike and Brendon walked into the bunker. They walked up to the cell carrying some food. They gave it to Amelia, who ate it in silence. When she was done, she walked to the door of the cell and peered out at her captors through the bars.

"What's wrong, demon girl? Cat got your tongue? You've been awful quiet tonight," Brendon said, and she shrugged.

"I need to go to the bathroom," she announced suddenly.

"So? There's a toilet in there. Go in there, or piss on the floor. I don't care," Carden said with a smirk.

"No, not like that. I mean, well, it's that time of the month, and I'm having, uh, female issues," she said as she bowed her head, almost ashamed.

Brendon and Mike exchanged looks. They hadn't been expecting that.

Unsure, but not wanting to take any risks, Brendon unlocked the door, and there was a split second where the door was open and neither of them made a move. She took this opportunity to strike.

She muttered a word in the ancient demon language, which sent both of the vampires flying back with a burst of energy. She ran as fast as she could from the bunker.

Her legs pounded on the ground as she ran, her breathing heavy. She could hear the vampires behind her and they were closing in on her when she glanced back.

As she ran, she fired off as many ancient spells as she knew, hexes and curses flying everywhere. They managed to hit Mike and Brendon, but it almost wasn't enough.

Finally, she escaped from the bunker was above ground. She paused momentarily to enjoy the fresh night air, but the thudding behind her snapped her back to reality and she continued running.

She had no idea where she was going, but she knew she had to keep running, had to find Mikey. Eventually, she was able to put enough distance between herself and the two vampires that she could rest for a spell. She began to concentrate and make hand signs. She could feel the energy flowing inside of her. When the power was sufficient, she bit her thumb, just enough to draw blood. She drew a symbol on the ground, and when she looked up, the two vampires were advancing on her.

"Well now, you've had a nice run, but now it's time to go back," Brendon called, and she shook her head.

"If you give up now, maybe you can beg for forgiveness and William won't punish you as much," Mike offered, and she shook her head again.

She laughed at them, and it honestly spooked the two vampires. This girl was kind of creepy when she needed to be.

"You will know me by the scars I bear. You will know me by this hate, I swear. Everlasting vengeance. Arise, Thanatos!" she said, and slammed her hands onto the ground, right in the middle of the blood drawing.

Almost instantly, the ground began to smoke, and a form materialized. It was a black shadow figure, with a skull for a face. It stared out of empty eye sockets, and a large pair of wings adorned its back.

"Mistress Illshya, how may I serve you?" it asked.

"Thanatos, god of death and bringer of misery, take care of the vampire in the hat," she instructed, and it nodded.

The shadowy figure immediately flew towards Brendon and knocked him down to the ground. It held him in place with a paralyzing stare, literally.

Amelia took this opportunity to start running again. Her odds of survival were now better if she only had to deal with one vampire. She kept running, even though her lungs were burning and her heart was thudding in her chest. She desperately wanted to rest, but couldn't.

As she passed an alleyway, a hand suddenly shot out and grabbed her arm. She was thrown against a wall and a hand covered her mouth. She immediately began to struggle, until she heard a voice.

"Hey Amelia. Hey, stop moving. It's Frank," said the voice, and she found herself staring up into the hazel eyes of one Frank Iero.

She had so many questions for him, like how did he find her, and the like, but he shook his head.

"Don't worry, I'm gonna get you out of here. Just stay behind me. He's out there, waiting," he said and she nodded.

The two walked out of the alley, and sure enough, there stood Mike Carden, ready to fight.

"Well, well, well, look at what we have here. A midget helping a deranged demon. How cute," he said with a laugh.

Frank laughed back, though his was tinged with malice. "You're so funny, Carden."

Frank still held onto Amelia's arm, but put her behind him.

"You think you're going to fight me? Please, I'll just step on you," Carden said, and Frank laughed again.

"Burn, baby, burn," was all Frank said as he stared at Mike Carden.

Soon, smoke began to come from his clothes, and suddenly, Mike's suit coat was on fire! The flames danced wildly around him as he tried to put the flames out, and Frank just laughed.

With Mike now distracted as well, Frank took Amelia by the hand and began to run. The streets whizzed by in a blur, and Amelia only hoped that Frank knew where he was going. Eventually though, they stopped in front of an old warehouse. Frank walked up to the door and looked behind him, just to make sure no one was following him. When he was sure, he opened the door and led Amelia in.

The two made their way to one of the assembly lines, where Mikey and Ray were sparring as Gerard, Bob, and Chislett watched.

"So he decided to help after all," she mused quietly.

"Hey guys! Look what I picked up on the street!" Frank yelled as they walked in.

"I swear to god, Frank, if it's another cat," Bob started, but Frank shook his head.

"It's something better than a cat. It's -" he started, but he was interrupted by Mikey, who, upon seeing Amelia behind Frank, ran up to her and gave her a bone crushing hug.

"Oh my goodness, my lady, I thought you were dead! When Sebastien said you had been captured, I didn't know what to think," he exclaimed as he hugged her tighter.

When Gerard noticed that she was changing colors from lack of oxygen, he gently pried the excited Lycan off of her, and she thanked him.

"How did you escape?" was the question on everybody's mind.

"I cursed a lot," she said with a laugh. "But seriously, I used as many curses as I knew. I told Mike and Brendon that I needed to go to the bathroom, and then I threw every curse at them that I knew. I even summoned Thanatos, the god of death, to take care of them. Then Frank found me, and now I'm here," she finished.

"That's great, but where is your friend?" Frank asked.

Amelia's expression became sad at the mention of AJ. "She's, um, still there. She's at the mansion. Beckett took her, like, three days ago, and god knows what he's doing to her," she said sadly.

"We have to go back for her." Chislett said, and everyone nodded.

Mikey's mind was now made up. He walked out of the room.

"Where are you going?" Gerard called.

"I'm going to make a phone call," he said.


	23. A Little Less 23

Mikey walked out of the room and pulled out his phone. It was now or never.

_

It wasn't always easy being the leader of the Lycans, at least those in Western Europe and the United States. Lucian was constantly busy. Whether it was doing paperwork to update terms of treaties previously signed, or cracking a few skulls, he was always doing something. This particularly rainy day in Budapest found him sitting behind a desk, something the wolf inside absolutely loathed. He really wanted to be out and running around, especially since the full moon was only days away; however, he had paperwork to do.

He was looking at maps that divided his territory from the other Lycan leaders. He was trying to figure out how he could revise the terms of a treaty, when a knock at his door interrupted his thoughts. Although he hated to be interrupted, this was a welcome relief. He beckoned whoever was on the other side into his office. A bright eyed blonde female wolf named Nina came in.

"Yes, Nina, what is it?" he asked.

"You have a phone call, sir. Mikey Way is on line 1," she reported with a bow.

"Very well," he said and he dismissed her.

He picked up the phone. (He was also well accustomed to the times)

"Hello?"

"Lucian, it's Mikey."

"Mikey Way, how are you, my boy? It's been a long time. Everything going well in Jersey?" he asked, a half-smile in his voice. He really quite liked Mikey Way. He was one of his best Lycans.

"Everything is fine in Jersey, but we have a situation here in Chicago."

Lucian's ears perked up. Chicago was way outside of Mikey's territory. What was he doing there?

"What kind of situation?"

"Well, Lady Illshya and her friend, Adeline, came to the city on an assassination mission. As of almost 3 weeks ago, they were both captured by William Beckett and have not been seen since," he reported.

Lucian, upon hearing that name, could immediately feel his blood begin to boil. He willed himself to stay calm, though.

"They were captured? And how did you find this out?"

"Sebastien told me, sir."

"Oh, really? Sebastien told you, did he? How nice. And why, _Michael_, did it take you almost three weeks to inform me of this?" Lucian asked, his voice laced with ire.

There was shame in Mikey's voice as he replied, "Because we thought we could handle it on our own. Sebastien tried to help, but there were wards on the city, so he called me and my friends."

"You thought you could handle it on your own. Do you not know how powerful William Beckett is? And, if it involves Lady Illshya and her safety, I expect to be notified at once. This is unacceptable," Lucian said in a chastising tone.

"I know that, sir, and if I could go back and change the past, I would. If it makes you feel any better though, Lady Illshya has escaped. She is with us now, and is safe."

"And Adeline?"

"According to Amelia, she is still at the mansion, with Beckett. I'm calling now to ask for your help. This situation has gotten far out of our control, and we need your help in taking Beckett down."

Lucian thought about this for a moment. He and Remus Lupin had gone back for many years. Right before Remus had died, he had entrusted Adeline's care to Lucian, if she needed it. It was clear that she needed his help, so he assented.

"I understand. Give me a few hours to put things in order, and I will meet you in Chicago in a day's time."

"Thank you, sir. We appreciate it," Mikey said as the two hung up.

Lucian put the phone on the receiver gently. He then chucked the lamp on his desk across the room, which shattered upon impact. It helped a little in calming him down. He then put everything in order and went to find Raze. Raze was his most trusted advisor, his second in command.

He informed Raze of the situation and as the two walked to the airport, he pulled out his phone and called Sebastien.

"Hello, Sebastien? It's Lucian. How soon can you meet us in New York?"

_

Ten hours later, the two of them arrived in New York. They met Sebastien and the three of them flew to Chicago. About three hours after that, the three were in Chicago.

Lucian almost gagged upon entering the city. William Beckett's scent was everywhere and it was nauseating. Lucian first wanted to talk to Beckett face to face, let him know he was there. Sebastien led them to the mansion. Not even bothering to be buzzed in, the three Lycans easily leapt over the fence.

They walked up to the mansion and kicked down the door. He could hear Beckett talking from upstairs. The three of them went up a flight of stairs and busted down the door to Beckett's office. Beckett was standing in the middle of the office talking to three of his men. He wheeled around at the sound of his door shattering.

He turned paler than possible at the sight of Lucian, Raze, and Sebastien standing in the middle of his office. His face betrayed no emotion though.

"Lucian," he said, calm and collected.

"Beckett." Lucian replied.

"Welcome to my city. What can I do for you?" he asked as his eyes nervously moved between the three Lycans.

"One of my men called me with an interesting story. Mikey Way called me and said that you had captured two girls by the names of Amelia Clearwater and Adeline Jean Winters. Is that true?" he asked, keeping his voice level.

"They aren't here. I'm surprised to even see you back here, Sebastien. Didn't think you'd come back after you ran out of here with your tail between your legs," said a vampire on William's right, who had brown hair and a derby hat on his head.

Sebastien obviously knew this vampire, so he bared his fangs and growled in response. Before the young vampire could say anything else stupid, Beckett silenced him with a glare.

"Well?" Lucian asked.

"Brendon is right. There is no one here. And even if they were here, I do not have to answer to your kind. Not in MY city," Beckett replied, smirking smugly.

Lucian gave a little growl and before Beckett could even comprehend what happened, Lucian walked over, wrapped his large hand around Beckett's throat and lifted the vampire into the air. His legs dangled helplessly and Lucian laughed..

"Funny how you think you can show me disrespect simply because you control this listen to me, William Beckett. I did not travel halfway around the world just to be sassed by the likes of you. Now, I know that the girls are here because I can smell them. One of them is even in this house right now. Mikey might not have been able to detect them, but I can. I want those girls by sundown tomorrow," he said, his voice rough.

"And if I don't?" Beckett choked out.

Lucian laughed again, and it made the other vampires uneasy.

"If you don't, I will kill you. I will rip your lifeless heart from your body, sever your head from your cold corpse, and burn your precious city to the ground," he said ominously as he threw Beckett across the room.

Beckett crashed into his desk, which shattered from the impact. Lucian, satisfied with his threat, turned to walk out of the room. As the Lycans walked out of the room, Lucian called over his shoulder, "Remember Beckett, sundown."

The three Lycans walked out of the office and towards the stairs. As they did, a door opened and a girl came out from one of the rooms. Lucian immediately recognized her.

"Adeline!" he said as he walked over to her and gave her a hug. The minute he got close to her though, his nose wrinkled as an unpleasant stench filled his nose. This girl smelled of Beckett in the worst way possible.

He also smelled something different. Something that he hadn't smelled in a while, not since Michael Corvin. Could this girl be a hybrid?

"Excuse me, but who are you and why are you hugging me?" the girl asked, which broke Lucian's train of thought.

"Adeline, it's me, Lucian. I'm one of Remus' friends," he said, shocked that she didn't know who he was.

"How do you know who I am and how do you know Remus?"

"I've known you for quite a time, since you were little. I'm an old friend of Remus'."

"Get away from me. You smell like an musty old shag carpet," AJ said as she shoved him away and went into Beckett's office. 

At once his ears picked up her startled cry of, "Oh…baby!" and then the sound of her footfalls as she must have ran to help Beckett up off his desk.

"Are you o-"

"God damn lycans…" he growled, before Lucian heard her squeak as Beckett must have pulled her closer, "They want you, darling…they can't have you. You're mine." He heard the vampire murmur, eliciting a slight moan from the girl, "I'd better be…hm…William, not in your office!" she yelped, protesting suddenly as she giggled.

Lucian growled, to hear the things they were saying to each other, it made him sick. He saw Adeline as somewhat of a daughter, like Viktor had with Selene. Now, the more Lucian thought, the more it seemed he was like Viktor, when the elder now deceased vampire had wanted him dead because of his affair with Sonja. And now it was that Lucian wanted Beckett dead, not only for capturing the girl, but…Lucian involuntarily snarled when he thought of Adeline as Beckett's lover. SHE was not Sonja though, and there was no way that Lucian would ever compare himself to some lowly vampire like Beckett.

Lucian growled and went to walk after her, but Raze put his hand on the older Lycan's shoulder.

"Let her go, Lucian. It's obvious that her thoughts are not her own."

Lucian nodded and the three of them left the mansion.

Sebastien called Mikey, who gave them instructions to the warehouse in which they were staying.

They went to the warehouse and knocked on the door. Mikey let them in and led them to the assembly lines. In the middle of the large room, there was a tatooed vampire and and some sort of other creature. Lucian's nose identified it as an oni, a type of ogre. They were both fighting a small girl, who was able to keep her own very well.

The tatooed vampire let loose with a stream of fire, which the girl dodged. The oni struck out at her and caught her off guard. She went tumbling to the ground, but before the oni could finish her off, she kicked her leg out and hooked hers under his. The oni fell to the ground and the girl was gone.

She reappeared behind the tatooed vampire, and held something to his heart.

"You're dead, Frank," she said with a smile and the vampire laughed.

"Got me there," he said and she let him go. She helped the oni from the ground and the three began to walk towards everyone else.

As Amelia walked towards him, a glimmer of hope shined in her eyes and she got a huge grin on her face.

"Lucian!" she shouted and she ran to the old Lycan.

She practically tackled him in an embrace, which he gladly returned.

"Good evening, my lady. Glad to see you're up and about. Mikey told me what happened," he said as he ruffled her hair affectionately.

Although the demon was far older than he and was technically _his_ elder, he still saw Amelia as somewhat of a daughter.

She let him go, and then gave hugs to both Raze and Sebastien. After that, Mikey ushered them all into the office, eager to discuss plans.

"We should wait for Gerard and Chislett," Bob said, and everyone agreed.

Gerard and another vampire walked in shortly thereafter. Lucian shook both of their hands, but couldn't resist snarling when he shook the blond vampire's hand. He, too, smelled like William Beckett, or at least, his house.

Chislett immediately stepped back upon seeing Lucian's razor sharp teeth.

Amelia put a hand on Lucian's arm.

"It's all right, Lucian. He's with us. He used to be a part of Beckett's gang, but he's with us now," Amelia said gently, and Lucian backed off.

They all sat down and began to talk. 


	24. A Little Less 24

"So, where were you guys?" Mikey asked Lucian.

"We had to stop and see Beckett. I wanted to speak to him personally," Lucian said.

"Did you see AJ?" Amelia asked.

Lucian's headed dropped slightly, almost as though he didn't want to explain.

"Yes, we did...she didn't recognize me, it's quite obvious she's under Beckett's control. In addition to this, she...she doesn't seem the same, there's something about her scent that's off."

"You mean like it's tainted?"

"Tainted in the worst way possible, I'd say. I couldn't even smell her, really, all I could smell on her was Beckett."

Amelia sighed, "I guess Patrick was right. Said if either one of us fell for one of the Dandies, we'd both be in trouble. It's just my luck she's managed to fall for the leader."

"Fall for? Amelia, she's not just fallen for him. She's nothing but his pawn now, in his mind she's expendable while poor Adeline's positive she's in love with him."

"In love with? No, she'd never..."

"The Dandies' mental abilities are astounding, so I'm not surprised with what's happened to her. I'm only going to say this once because I fear if I repeat it anymore, you wouldn't do it if the need arises, but...Amelia, if the time does come, you may have to kill her." Lucian said gently, not realizing how...much of an impact it would have.

"Lucian, I can't kill my best friend. I've known her for almost ten years."

"Ten years. Ha." Frank said with a laugh, "Sorry, but ten years? Amelia that's nothing! Ten years to a vampire is like the blink of an eye!"

"If what Lucian says is true, my Lady, you may have no choice. If Beckett truly has control of your friend's mind, she's not your friend. She's your worst enemy." Mikey added.

"She wouldn't kill me. AJ wouldn't do that. She'd know it was me!"

"Not if Beckett's gotten into her head she won't. Amelia, she's gone. They way they were talking in his office? AJ's in over her head, that's if she manages to realize it before she's sent to her death! I need you to just accept that fact that you may have to kill her! If all else fails, and you find yourself unable to perform the deed, remember the pact we signed. Adeline is a threat, much like the many death dealers you've slain already."

Amelia's eyes widened at the realization of his words. Her face drained of color. She would have to kill her best friend?

"No, no, no, no! I can't do it! I won't do it!" she yelled, and she could feel the demon's power growing over her.

"Easy there, my lady. You're just restless because the full moon is near, " Raze said calmly.

"Yeah, Amelia, he's right. You'd better - " Frank started.

Amelia cut him off mid-sentence by slamming him up against the wall, her fingers around his throat.

"Shut the fuck up, Iero. You have no idea what you're talking about. I'm not going to kill my friend if I don't have to," she said. At first, her voice was quiet, deadly. Towards the end though, her voice cracked a bit, and Frank could see tears in her eyes.

She let him go and walked abruptly out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

Bob spoke for everyone when he said, "You know, Frank, you can be a real asshole sometimes."

"I'll go talk to her," Sebastien offered while shooting Frank a disapproving look.

Seb walked out of the room and listened for Amelia. He could hear her pacing around, muttering to herself angrily and smashing things. She had picked up a flat board and was banging it against some old machines, the wood breaking and going everywhere.

He came up behind her and grabbed the board as she brought it back for another swing. She spun around and looked at him, tears running down her face. She dropped the board and hugged him, tears spilling everywhere.

"Shh, it's all right. It'll be okay," he soothed as he rubbed her back sympathetically.

"I don't wanna do it, Seb! I can't kill her! I can't do it!" she sobbed into his shirt.

"Shh, it'll be all right. Maybe you won't even have to kill her. If we can kill Beckett, we might be able to get your friend back. That'd be okay, right?" he asked, his Canadian accent coming out.

Amelia giggled slightly. "God, Seb, you're so Canadian! Thanks, by the way"

He smiled. He allowed her to wipe her eyes on his shirt and the two walked back into the room.

Frank pulled Amelia into a hug when he saw her and he apologized for being insensitive.

"Now that that's all settled, we need a plan," Gerard said, and everyone agreed.

"I say we attack on the full moon. It's only a few days away. That way, we'll all be stronger," Bob suggested.

Lucian nodded. "You are right. That would give us a significant advantage over Beckett and his men."  
>"What if he tries to pull something? I wouldn't doubt he'd try something slick," Ray said and they all nodded.<p>

They turned to look at Chislett. "Well, you know William the best. Would he try anything funny?"

Chislett thought about it for a moment before answering.

"I would think it'd be best for us to expect the worst. He's not going to give up without a fight, even with the full moon."

"But if AJ can realize what's happened, she could get a head start on this whole plan! The full moon, she's still a lycan so she's still stronger with it rising..." Amelia explained, pausing as she noticed Lucian was shaking his head.

"My Lady, we've discussed this before…she's under Beckett's control. We'll have to break her free before she even can think about turning on him."

Despite hearing this for the second time that day, Amelia smiled. She had no doubt that AJ would realize the truth before it was too late.

Later that night, Beckett had decided it was time AJ learned to hunt, more specifically being able to do so without drawing attention to herself. He had changed into a black business casual suit, she in an ankle length black skirt with a lacy camisole under a knit cardigan.

As she stood in front of the small vanity on her dresser, she furrowed her brows and pouted, trying to perfect the sultry look the boys had said she'd became accustomed to sporting.

She was debating whether or not to put her hair up, she and William were going out on the town to the bars to scout out victims. She'd started pulling her hair up, went to grab a ponytail holder and was surprised to feel arms wrapping around her waist.

"Ah! William…I'm- fixin' my hair…d-don't…" she squeaked as the elder vampire nuzzled her neck, lips trailing soft kisses up her jawline.

"What's wrong dear?" he asked, licking behind her ear, smiling at her shriek as he nipped her. She tried to pull away but William turned her in his arms, backing her up against the dresser. He lifted her ontop of it effortlessly and leaned into her body, his lips against her neck as her hands tangled in his hair.

"William….babe, aren't we goin' tonight? I gotta put my hair up!" She complained, rolling her eyes.

William smiled, "Fine. If you're not downstairs in the foyer in fifteen minutes though, I'm coming back up here whether you like it or not, my love." He bargained, smirking slightly.

"Alright fine. Now go…I need time for makeup and to finish my hair…" she nodded, smiling.

William shook his head, almost as though he was laughing as he walked out of her bedroom.

"I think this is a stupid plan." Amelia said as she looked out into the night, where Chicago's nightlife awaited her, human or otherwise.

"Hey, you're the one that wanted to save your friend. This is the easiest way." Mikey said.

"But why do I have to be bait?"

"Because you're the one Beckett's still after."

The plan was simple. Amelia would go to one of the local bars, sit around while and then move on, leaving a scent trail AJ could easily pick up on. Knowing Beckett, Gerard figured he would want his defenses ready by the full moon, so the group knew he'd have AJ with him.

"If I don't come back…well…use your imaginations, guys."

The group shuddered as Amelia easily broke through the protective barriers set around the warehouse.

If this plan worked, maybe Amelia and the boys could get a little help from the inside.


	25. A Little Less 25

"The plan here is not to draw attention to yourself, dear. Just find someone you think would be rather….easy to persuade, and get them out in the back, where it's dark. Then work your charm, but don't show those pearly whites until he's under your spell. Alright?"

AJ nodded as she held William's hand as the two walked into the bar. Instantly cigarette smoke and alcohol hit her nose, which she wrinkled in disgust.

"It's alright. I'll be waiting, right here. Now go, have fun. Just remember, we need to be home by sun up." He murmured, kissing her pinned up hair as AJ slipped out of his reach, smiling at all the different scents in the room.

'Hm…this is going to be easier than I thought.' AJ thought, winding through the crowd out the dancefloor to the main bar.

Sitting just a few seats over from the jukebox was a pretty twenty something, brunette hair pulled back into a braid.

'_Just work your charm' _William's words rang in her head. Easily done.

"Mind if I set here?" AJ asked the girl, who shook her head.

"Go ahead. You scoutin' for a date too?"

"Guess you could say that." AJ replied, looking across the bar towards William, who nodded, walking off toward the backdoor.

"So…what are you drinking?" the brunette asked.

"Oh…uh, I don't. Just like the atmosphere. Y'know?"

She nodded, "yeah…the music. I had a friend like you, she'd just go to bars to listen to the band, maybe to find a hot guy to oogle at when he thought she wasn't looking."

AJ smiled, she could barely remember liking anyone but William.

"That's fun…if you want, we could leave this bar and go to other one, I've got a friend in a band that plays every other night and his friend is pretty good looking. And single," she added with a laugh.

The brunette smiled, "Yeah, that sound fine. It's too smoky in here for me, anyways."

And with that, AJ and the brunette got up and headed out back into the darkened alley where William was waiting.

It was just her luck Amelia had ran into AJ at the first bar she'd headed to. It appeared as though AJ didn't recognize her at all though, as Lucian had said would happen.

"So…I'm sorry I forgot to ask, but what's your name?" she asked.

"That's not important. You shouldn't care." AJ replied icily, stepping into the shadows of the alleyway, only to be found in William Beckett's arms a second later.

"You did well, my love…first time out and you have yet to kill," he observed, his hands resting on her sides, rubbing them soft enough to ease a moan out of her as she tipped her head back against his shoulder.

Amelia couldn't believe it. Lucian was right, she _had_ fallen in love with him.

"Y-Yet to kill? Please, if I had my weapons, you and your prissy little girl would be dead." Amelia retorted, the demon already growing restless.

"Prisy little girl? Girl, who do you think you are?" AJ questioned her tone distant, and sharp.

Amelia saw her lip twitch in a snarl baring her fangs as Beckett must have tightened his grip around her, "Easy darling, she doesn't mean that. Do you, my dear?"

Amelia wanted oh so terribly to rip the vampire apart right there. Not only had he sired AJ, he'd just called her 'dear' as though that was supposed to entice her to listen to him and do as she was told. Like that was going to work.

"Oh I mean it. You and your little girlfriend need to fly on back to your mansion and make out there, not in some dark alley. And oh, I'm so scared….vampires. Wow!" she taunted sarcastically as she noticed the hurt crossing AJ's face.

"I'm not prissy. I'm just high class, unlike you. You know, you smell different then normal mortals…can't quite figure it out, but I'd sure love a taste."

Amelia's eyes widened. That had been the same thing Chislett had said to her when they had been enemies. She shook her head, "Good luck. You don't know anything about me."

"How about you come home with me and I'll learn?" said Mike Carden, stepping out of the shadows beside AJ and William.

Amelia internally faceplamed.

'_Great….Lucian's going to kill me.'_

'_Easy my child. Allow them to take you, then try to talk to AJ…only you can put her memory back in place!'_ the demon argued.

'_Yes my Lady…I just hope I don't die in the process.'_

"Fine…you're single, I suppose?" she asked, turning to look at Carden, noticing the longing glance he threw at AJ before responding, "Good thing too, because you're a pretty one."

Instantly he came forward to take her hand, lifting it to his lips. Amelia involuntarily shuddered.

"You're real warm," Carden observed, looking into the girl's eyes. Somehow she seemed familiar…

"Let's go then. AJ, you did well, dear." Beckett told her, and Amelia knew if the blonde could have still blushed she would have. But she only smiled gently and took his hand, linking their fingers as they began to walk back to the mansion. Amelia followed Carden's lead.

"You look familiar…have we met before?" he asked.

Amelia gulped, trying to think of a lie, "My sister lives in town, I come to Chicago every few months, so it's possible you've seen me before."

"Oh…I was wondering why you look so scared…something bothering you?"

"Well…I've heard there's vampires in town here…I'm not supposed to be out after seven…but I didn't listen. Could you protect me from them if we get caught by them?" she asked, playing dumb.

Carden smiled, inadvertently revealing his fangs, "Afraid it's too late for that, sweetheart."

On instant, as if it was the fight or flight reaction, Amelia screamed and tried to run, only to find Carden's viselike grip keeping her still. And before she knew it, she was back in the Dandies mansion, in the room she had been in before being moved to the underground bunker.

"William can I please just taste her? Please? I'll leave most of it for you and the boys…." AJ whined as she paced William's office, waiting for him to finish his work.

"Darling it's not about saving it….it's about not killing the girl once you start drinking, you're a newborn so you're still liable to trigger the frenzy once you taste her blood," he reasoned shaking his head.

"But ba-"

"You can go talk to her, but you're not to bit her until I'm present, to keep an eye on you, is that understood?"

AJ pouted slightly, but nodded, "Fine."

AJ headed down the hall to the small bedroom they were keeping the girl in. Hesitantly she opened the door, "You awake?"

The girl sighed slightly, "What do you want?"

"Just to talk. I'm not like the others, don't worry. I'm…much younger, you could say."

Amelia laughed. Damn straight, AJ was younger, only….what? Two hundred and ninety some years William's junior?

"Yeah…you are huh? So…AJ…you think William really loves you?" Amelia asked, smiling as AJ's face twisted in horror.

"How do you know my name?"

"It's Amelia. Your friend."

"I don't have any friends named Amelia."

"That's because William's wiped your memory. You're not yourself!"

"Wiped what memory? He saved me from a gang of vampires and protected me. I'm like him now."

"He just changed you because you let him. You think you're in love with him."

"I am! What do you know?"

"AJ…you're not in love with him. He's destroyed your mind! AJ…listen to me! You like Big Time Rush! Green Day! U2! Matchbox Twenty! Our first concert was Keith Urban when your were twelve! Remember me!" Amelia almost screamed, almost ready to cry.

"I don't know you…I don't know you…" AJ repeated softly, shaking her head.

"Fine…but maybe you'll remember this." Amelia said bitterly, not wanting to do this, but she had to. She hated singing. But if it was the only way to get AJ to remember, she'd have to.

_"Cause you're not alone, girl Look over your shoulder You don't have to wonder_  
><em>Cause you know, you know, you know You're not alone, girl<em>  
><em>I'll be there to hold you I'll stay til it's over And you know, you know, you know<em>  
><em>That you're not alone That you're not alone..."<em>

She looked at AJ. Tiny tears were at the corner of the hybrid's eyes, her face smiling with recognition.

"Rae…it really is you!…oh god….where am I? And…ew, why am I wearing all this lace?"

"Beckett. We're back in the mansion. He…uh, tricked you into falling in love with you. When you went left with him from the underground bunker, I knew he was up to something. And uh…you're not a lycan anymore."

"N-Not a lycan anymore?"

"Beckett bit you. He…you're half vampire now."

"Ew….wait, bit me?"

"You have fangs. And I'm assuming with the way he's been talking to you that you've been sleeping together…"

"Oh god…I've been sleeping…with William Beckett? Th-the leader of the Dandies?" AJ blinked and then fell onto the bed, swooning.

"You okay?"

"Yeah…I think. But…how are we getting out of here?"

"Well, do you know where our weapons are?"

AJ nodded.

"Good. I've found Gerard and Mikey, they've got Lucian with them. They're waiting til the full moon to attack."

"Attack?"

"AJ, they're going to kill the Dandies. Don't you remember Patrick? He sent us on this mission to kill them."

"Oh….right….oh…okay. But what do-"

"Dear, are you okay? You've become terribly quiet!" William's voice floated down the hall.

"Uh oh…I gotta go….should I…"

"Just tell him I know Gerard. We'll get through this. Tomorrow's the full moon." Amelia reassured, giving AJ's hand a squeeze as she got up, going to spend some time with William.

The minute Adeline walked out of the room the human was in; William sensed something different about her.

"Love, is there something wrong? You seem…confused about something." William stated, lifting her chin with a finger, surprised to see her flinch.

She didn't look in his eyes, wouldn't smile. There really was something wrong.

Deciding to entice her, he leaned in and went to kiss her, only to be met with a muffled sob and teary eyes.

"Ssssshhhhh…..what's wrong? I'm here…ssssshhhh…." William soothed, as she buried her head in his shoulder to cry, still wondering what was wrong. AJ gulped for air against his suit jacket, before pitifully pulling her lips to his.

There was something wrong with this kiss, William thought. It was too….desperate, too…filled with pain.

Abruptly he pulled away to hold her face, study her for any sign.

"What did the human say, love? If you'll tell me, I'll rip her apart right now." He growled, not wanting to see the girl in this condition any longer.

"S-She knows….kn-knows…Gerard….said they're coming. Full moon….oh, William…we're all going to die!" she wailed, tears inconsolable.

William was infuriated. The girl they'd brought back? She was the one that had escaped Brendon and Mike from the bunker. And now here she was, telling him of his death? More importantly, she'd told not him, but the girl he'd trained to love him. He couldn't bear to see her like this, not when she'd have to fight the next night.

So he held her as she cried, every so often humming an old song he knew, hoping it would calm her.

"W-William?" she sniffled, able to catch her breath.

"What is it, dear?"

"You won't let them get me, will you? I l-love y-you…" she stuttered, kissing his neck, any part of his skin she could reach.

William smiled reassuringly as he rubbed her back in small circles, "Of course not. I'll keep you safe forever if I have to, to my death." He promised, blinking.

Too bad he hadn't seen the tiny smile AJ's lips had turned into. Playing him right into his death trap was going to be easier said than done.


	26. A Little Less 26

AJ had learned early on where her and Amelia's weapons had been stored, they were in a otherwise empty cabinet in William's office. Getting them was going to be easy, it was sneaking them out of the mansion with Amelia and herself that was going to be hard.

But she'd figured out a way. Being she was half lycan, she could still walk out in the daylight, unlike William and the other dandies. During the day she would go back and fourth to Amelia, grabbing weapons and devising the plan. Then, right before night fell and the group was to go out hunting, AJ would let Amelia go and run back to Gerard, who would later confront William and the dandies.

"So you let me go and I run to the guys. You tell Beckett they're coming, and get him to go out and look a bit for us. We'll meet you in that abandoned alleyway we first were captured in. Sound alright?"

AJ nodded, "I just hope this works. It's like we're on a paper chase, our souls written in blood on the pages…"

"Who turned you into the morbid poet?" Amelia laughed, smiling, glad to have her old friend back.

"I don't really know….I'm just glad that I can think…I don't know how long I'll be able to keep this up for…" AJ admitted.

"Only one more night….just fake like you don't want to lose him. But know you're going to."

"I know….what was it I regretted about our previous mission? Right, killing the James Maslow look a like. Can you imagine what killing these vampires is going to do to me?"

Both girls laughed.

""True…I guess we'll just have to find you a boyfriend that isn't a vampire then." Amelia reasoned.

AJ nodded, "Yeah, but I'm still never going to forget this."

Amelia had started to run; the sun was setting, the final battle fast approaching. Armed with two guns, plenty of ammo, five shuriken and a pocket knife, she knew she was headed for the fight of her life.

Reaching the warehouse, she already knew what she was going to say.

"Lucian…Gerard…Mikey…I'm sorry. I've done all I can. The final battle is coming, and we'd better be ready for it." She reported, catching the glimmer of excitement in Mikey's eyes.

"So…did you see your friend?" Chislett asked.

"Oh, AJ? Yeah, she's back."

"Define 'back'." Frank added, trying to figure out what she meant.

"I broke her of Beckett's control. All I needed was a simple song by an artist she knew and –pop- there she was, her old self."

"Wait…My Lady…you broke her of his control? Beckett's mind control abilities are the strongest of the dandies….for AJ to break it, she must have really been shook to the core…" Lucian said, trailing off.

"All I did was sing this song we'd always listen to….it was by her favorite band, so she knew every word. And then she looked at me, and was almost crying. And Lucian, you're right…she's more than tainted. He's part of her."

"Part of her?" Ray asked, getting up from where he'd sat in the corner with Bob, joining the conversation.

Chislett sighed.

"He bit her, and then she drank his blood. AJ's senses are more keen now then there were as a lycan, and she has fangs like any regular vampire. She can still phase however, although her wolf form will look a little different thanks to the vampire DNA." He explained, closing his eyes for a second only to have them snap open a second later at the slight crack heard.

Lucian had grabbed a glass bottle that had been lying on the ground and had thrown it at a wall, eyes blazing.

"I trusted her! I thought something was off, but to hear that? Remus would have never allowed it!"

He shouted, feeling the anger beginning to well up in his stomach. Now he was killing Beckett for sure, after knowing he'd tainted the one person he'd seen as a daughter.

"It's hard for me to believe as well, but if she can still phase, the moon will still be to her advantage." Amelia said, walking toward him.

Lucian barely managed a nod, "Well….how much time until I can rip Beckett's throat open?" he spat, still repulsed by the idea of the vampire having been close enough to AJ to turn her….into one of them.

"Not long…I'd say we should leave here in about fifteen minutes, AJ knows where we're going."

AJ thought getting William to keep believing nothing had changed was going to be easy. Of course, nothing ever works out the way you want it to.

"William!" AJ hollered, walking into the room Amelia had been in.

He came running; stopping when he saw the room was empty.

"She was here. Where'd she go?" he asked. AJ shrugged.

William looked at her for about ten seconds, and then did something she would have never expected to do.

He blinked, and then, as though he didn't need to think about what he was doing, slapped her.

AJ backed away, dazed by the sudden aggressiveness he was displaying.

"Baby what was that f-" William grabbed the velvet choker she had on and pulled her face closer to his.

"You know where she is, Adeline, don't lie to me!" AJ cringed; it was the first time William had ever really raised his voice towards her.

"William, I really don't know! I was only coming here to talk to her! And then you just go and-"

"I'm not stupid, I've realized the girl's broken you…you can think for yourself now, although you seem content trying not to! You want her to live, don't you? She knows Gerard…you want me dead. Just like before I had you under my control." He explained, anger still etched in his voice.

"William, I-" AJ wanted to explain, but William had already read her mind.

"Save it. Just know you're dying tonight." He stated, and AJ thought she could detect disappointment in his voice.

As he stormed out of the room, calling for Mike and Brendon to meet him in his office, AJ dropped her head into her hands and cried.

To think everything had been going so well…


	27. A Little Less 27

"AJ and Beckett are coming. I wouldn't doubt by now he's figured out what's going on."

"At least you saved her." Mikey said, pacing the ground, itching to fight.

"Well I haven't save her yet. She's still with him."

"LOOK!" Ray yelled, pointing just off into the distance. Beckett and his men were approaching, AJ still clutching his hand.

"I'm going to rip him apart." Lucian growled, glaring at Beckett.

Sebastien nodded, "Urie is my fight."

Mikey smiled, "And Carden is mine."

Frank, Ray, Gerard, Bob, Amelia, Raze, and Chislett nodded.

"You guys ready?" Amelia asked, the demon growing excited.

AJ didn't want to be in this fight, didn't want to see the vampires die, and although she knew it was for the best. Beckett still held her hand, perhaps he knew this would piss off Lucian past the breaking point.

"Adeline, I will play fair. Only because you are one of the prettiest girls I've ever had the chance to taste," he reasoned, managing a small smile as the hybrid trembled under his gaze.

"O-Okay." She replied, barely audible.

William nodded, kissing her hair. This fight was going to be the fight of his life, and he knew he would die. But he wouldn't go down without a fight.

Getting to spot where Beckett knew Lucian could see clearly, he suddenly pulled AJ closer, smirking. Her eyes widened as he leaned in and kissed her roughly, she automatically going on defense, her hands against his chest, trying to break free.

But Beckett held her tight, a hand reaching for the gun at her side, the other wrapping around her neck in a chokehold. Then, being she couldn't get away easily, he murmured, "You know, you ought to learn to enjoy being in love. You were fine with all of this, until that girl talked to you."

And then he set the gun against her head, causing Amelia to scream in the distant, being she saw the whole thing. The hybrid kicked against him, aiming for his shin as he walked, dragging her along.

"Easy darling… I don't want you to overexert yourself…" he soothed sarcastically.

"Let me go you son of a bitch!" AJ hollered, it being cut off abruptly as he tightened his grip.

Beckett barely had time to react before he found Lucian barreling toward him. For being a lycan as old as he was, he still had speed.

"Amelia!" AJ choked out as the demon ran to help, raining punches down on the vampire to get him to loosen his grip.

"Your friends certainly don't play fair, love." Beckett chided, throwing AJ to the ground.

The hybrid whimpered as she hit the ground, but got right back up, eyes piercing daggers. And then she phased.

Beckett almost smiled, the shewolf was blonde, the tips of her tail and paws russet. The top of her muzzle was gray and some fur on her chest was darker in spots, but Beckett realized these darker spots were the manifestation of her bite marks in wolf form. He searched her green eyes for any sign that she could still be controlled. Finding none, he found himself smiling.

This really was the final battle.

The other Dandies had found themselves in trouble as well, each finding themselves against two or three opponents.

Raze and Sebastien were able to keep Brendon on his toes as they dipped and dodged here and there, each avoiding the other.

Mikey and Gerard had their hands full, Carden trying everything he knew against them. Well timed kicks and punches would be nothing against the illusions he could create.

Mikey felt like he was in a fog. He thought he saw Amelia right in front of him.

"Get out of the way!"

"Mikey there's no one there! It's just Carden playing his mind games!" Gerard shouted over the noise of yells and fights.

Mikey blinked, saw the reflection of the moon through the fog, and remembered. The full moon was the entire reason that battle was taking place tonight. Letting the energy will seep into his pores, or he felt himself grow stronger. Carden needed to die.

With ferial cry, and he launched himself on the vampire, I keep thinking into his throat.

Gerard grabbed Carden's arms and bent them back, forcing him into a motionless state as blood dripped from his torn neck. Seeing her chance, Amelia bounded toward the brothers, gun drawn, only to find Chislett beside her.

"You want to kill shot?" she asked, idly holding the gun out toward him. Chislett nodded, taking the gun. Revenge had never been sweeter. Once Carden was dead, it was one down, three to go.

Brendon didn't like lycans (or being up against them in a fight for that matter), they had no place in Beckett's city. But here they were, circling him, trying to figure out when to jump and startle him.

"Come on mutts, you going to do anything? Or are you just going to circle me and lay d and die?" Brendon taunted,

That did it, Sebastien would refuse to be called a mutt, not when he was born a werewolf.

"Urie…I'll make this quick, and painless. But you're going down!" the Canadian yelled, leaping in the air and phasing, in turn landing on the startled vampire. Raze had turned as well, and both wolves proceeded to tear the vampire apart, the sharp snap of bones breaking heard both everyone else in their fights.

"BRENDON!" Carden yelled telepathically, having heard and seen what was happing, while he was still being held down by Gerard. He managed to blink, seeing the demon right in front of him, smirking.

Micheal Guy Chislett was standing beside her, gun ready, at look of sheer revenge in his eyes.

"You had this coming. After you, only William's left. Guess this is the last time you'll shine…" Chislett said, cocking the gun and raising it.

"Chislett…wait. She killed my sister. I want the shot." Mikey said, reaching for it.

Chislett smiled and handed it to him, "Go ahead, mate."

One shot later, and Mike Carden was dust in the wind.

The Butcher had managed to witness the horror occurring around him, and, obvious to the others, slowed down time and ran back the way he and William had come, aiming to run out of town, to find another city where he could rebuild his life.

Meanwhile, Beckett wasn't having any trouble keeping up with the two lycans. The only thing that made this easier was that the demon girl was nowhere in sight.

"What's the matter dear? Thought you said you and your friend were going to tear me apart?" Beckett asked sarcastically, knocking AJ flat to the ground one again, even in her wolf form the girl was easy to subdue.

AJ couldn't maintain her transformation for long, not after the fact it was her first time since turning into a hybrid. As soon as AJ hit the ground, she felt herself begin to phase back.

"Look at you…you're pathetic, to think I actually cared for you….you're weak, Adeline. If you would have trusted me, you would have become stronger….but no…"

"SHUT UP!" She screamed, trying her hardest to get back out her feet, although this was harder said than done. Beckett only smiled at her, his foot stepping down on her ankle, one hand wrapping around her throat to lift her into the air.

"You should not being yelling at me, seeing as I apparently felt nice enough to not kill you the night I took you from the underground bunker." Beckett replied, still calm.

AJ's eyes welled with tears; William had broken her ankle merely by stepping down on it. She whimpered, and Lucian watched. He knew she had to work this out on her own; he'd jump in and help if she needed it.

"I knew it was just a sick game. You couldn't fool me." She said softly, surprised he was letting her talk.

"But what a game it was. You played along well, pretending to be clueless enough. It's too bad this must be the end of you." He reasoned, dropping her.

Lucian watched the pair, biding his time. He'd know when to signal her.

AJ shivered, trying not to think about her ankle as Beckett leaned down to her, as though he wanted to help. He leaned in, like he was going to kiss her forehead, but she could see the gun already in his hand.

Suddenly, AJ realized she was meant to kill him, not Lucian. Lucian wanted her to reclaim herself, which in his eyes she could only do by killing Beckett.

As Beckett moved, so did AJ. Just as his lips brushed against her forehead, her hands locked around his neck, new found strength in her grip.

"Adeline, NOW!" She heard Lucian yell, and with one swift movement, she was startled by a giant cracking sound as well as the resounding pop of gunfire.


	28. A Little Less 28

She closed her eyes. Was this the end? She didn't feel any different, and could still hear people talking.

"Think she's okay?"

"Yeah, but I couldn't let her do that alone. She gets a certain way when we kill guys she thinks are hot," Amelia mused, and then AJ heard laughter.

"Her ankle's healed." She heard Sebastien say, before adding, "Proves she's still a lycan."

"She'll always be a lycan, even if that fithy excuse for a supernatural creature turned her. She'll always be like family to me…and by killing him, she's regained my trust." Lucian said.

AJ opened her eyes. She lay on the ground, clothes torn and dried blood on her lips.

"Who died?" she asked nonchantly after catching the attention of the others. Amelia gently put a hand on her shoulder.

"Um, hun, I know you're not going to want to hear this, but…" she started, before AJ finished her sentence, "We killed the Dandies, Beckett included. I don't mind. Being hot and being an evil twisted bastard is two completely different things." She explained, laughing slightly.

Amelia nodded, "Way to change your attitude. But…Oh! Time to call Patrick and tell him the mission's completed!"

The girls hi-fived as Mikey pulled out his cell phone, having had it in his pocket.

"Don't worry you two, I'll do it. It'll be nice to talk to some others who've had the same experiences we've had, to some degree," he added, smiling at AJ.

The girls nodded, just as Gerard spoke.

"So…girls…do you have any plans after this?"

"Well, I'm gonna ask the boss for a month's leave considering this time we almost died_ more_ then once," Amelia said.

"Uh, I don't really have any-" Aj broke off mid-sentence and looked at Chislett, that flirty smile returning to her face.

"Eh bien, au café ... pourrais-je avoir une deuxième chance? Je vais acheter. " she asked with a grin.

He returned the smile, nodding, "Why not? It's a good a plan as any. We're both daywalkers, so it would work. And maybe after, I'll take you out on the town?"

"Merci beaucoup, mon ami. Pouvons-nous aller demain?" she added, giggling slightly.

And again Chislett nodded, "Fine. You need a day to lay low though."

Amelia face palmed. Even after this mission had cost her her life, AJ was _still _looking for a date.

"AJ….sometimes I will never understand you." She commented, shaking her head in an 'oy vey' motion.

The boys laughed, and then Gerard said, "Those sound like great plans. Girls, if you're ever in Jersey, feel free to drop by. You're welcome in my city anytime."

Amelia looked at AJ and smiled. The Dandies had been taken down, and they were still alive. Everything had gone according to plan.

Two days later everything was back to normal. AJ and Amelia remained in Chicago at a hotel, being they wanted to hang around and given Patrick the information and details of what had occurred during their mission.

AJ had made a habit of going to the local coffee shop with Chislett, and it seemed she had found the vampire she'd thought about when she first discovered she was going to meet the Dandies. He had taken a liking to her as well, which she learned right away. She still wanted to wait awhile to see if it would go anywhere, though.

Amelia had decided that during the coming spring break, her vacation was going to be well spent. She decided to take Gerard up on his offer, and maybe drop by in Jersey to visit him and his gang.

Meanwhile, Patrick Stump and the rest of his vampire hunting friends had returned to become the leaders of the city, watching over everything that took place, keeping peace.

And in the end, it's like Adeline says, for foreign languages often express our thoughts best.

"C'est la vie!"

And what a life the girls had. Meeting vampires, werewolves, demons, wizards…it all came down to one thing that had gotten them through it all. Friendship.

"_You'll go off, you'll forget, you'll grow out of hanging from the edges, breaking off the past.  
>You'll know when to move on, you'll know when to take all the right chances, never looking back.<br>Somewhere hiding underneath, kicking off covers while you sleep, you feel alive."_


	29. When The Sun Goes Down

**If They Get Me And The Sun Goes Down, Will You Be The Ones To Save Me?**

It's been five years since the fall of the Dandies in Chicago. After the success of their mission, Amelia and AJ were allowed to branch off from the main part of the business. They opened an assassination branch based in southern California. They both kept in contact with Gerard and his friends, as well as Chislett. Speaking of the Australian vampire, he relocated to California, finding it much closer to his native land, Australia, than Chicago.

It was now spring break! AJ had taken off the week before to go backpacking in Europe with Chislett, George, and Nina, which left Amelia to close down the shop. As she closed the blinds and locked the door to the office, she wondered what she could do for spring break. She wanted to get out of California, she knew that much.

_"Child, why not go and visit Mikey? You know you are always welcome there," the demon suggested._

She was right. As Amelia walked back to the apartment she shared with AJ, she called Mikey.

He seemed happy to have her come and stay with them in Jersey for a week.

Amelia went home and packed and took the first plane she could out to Jersey.

These days, things were a lot easier. Destroying Beckett and his crew had given the two girls a huge peace of mind. It was nice to be able to walk and not have to constantly watch their backs.

Five hours later, she landed in Jersey.

As she retrieved her bag from the concourse, a pair of cold hands covered her eyes.

"Guess who?" said a sing-song voice.

"Hi Frank," she giggled.

"Ready to go?"

She nodded. Frank grabbed her by the hand and led her out of the airport. He led her to a nice shiny black Mazda.

She whistled in appreciation of the car.

"Like it? Gerard got a sweet deal on it," Frank explained as she nodded.

He threw her bag in the trunk and climbed in the front seat. Ray was driving, and she was happy to see the oni.

The drive took a little more than 25 minutes, during which time Amelia filled the two in on everything that had happened since they last saw each other.

Finally, they arrived at the house that they shared with the Way brothers and Bob Bryar.

"It's really great to have you, Amelia. I just hope that everything is to your liking," Ray said as Frank got her luggage from the trunk.

"I'm sure it's fine, Ray. Thanks."

"I know, but we know how special you are to Mikey, so we just wanted to make sure everything was perfect."

The three of them walked up the stairs and Ray let her in.

Before she could even breathe, she was being scooped up into the arms of one Mikey Way. He gave her a giant hug, which she gladly returned.

"It's good to see you, my lady. Welcome to our home," he said with a bow.

"Oh Mikey, you're silly. You don't have to be so polite in your own home."

********************************************************************************************************

Once Mikey had shown her around the house, he showed her to her room, which was right off the living room, next to his. She put her stuff away and rejoined Mikey.

"So, what do you want to do, my lady?" Mikey asked.

"Not sure. Maybe check out the city?"

"Sure, why not? We can all go out for a night on the town," he decided.

After the sun had set and Gerard had returned from some meetings with the town council, the six of them, Bob included, went out. They showed Amelia all of the cool things to do. It was awesome!

********************************************************************************************************

Amelia had so much fun in Jersey that she decided to stay a little longer. The only thing was that, even though no one would dare hurt Amelia while she was in Gerard's city, Mikey still worried for her safety. Every time that she went out, he made sure that someone went with her. It was cute at first, but Amelia quickly grew tired of it. The demon tried explaining that she was very important to Mikey and he just wanted to make sure that nothing went wrong while she was in his city. As Mikey said, he didn't want to take any chances after the whole incident with the Dandies.

This particular night, Amelia decided to go out. She wanted to experience the Jersey night life by herself. Of course, Mikey was wholeheartedly against it, because he was worried for her safety. Tonight, she was particularly testy and she stormed out of the house, eager to just get away from Mikey and his overprotectiveness. She had done some research and knew exactly where she was going. She boarded a bus, put in some headphones, and watched the city go rushing by.

*******************************************************************************************************

As he watched Amelia walk down the street, Mikey wondered.

"Did she say where she was going?" he asked.

"Really, man, you've gotta let it go. She's a big girl demon now. She can take care of herself," Gerard said in a half-joking, half-serious manner.

"I know, but…"

"Hey Mikey, according to her latest Google search, she's going to the Killjoy Club," Frank said as he looked at her laptop.

Mikey's face contorted in a slight snarl.

"The Killjoy Club? That's like, an hour away, isn't it? The club in Aberforth's territory?" Ray asked.

Aberforth was the other leader of New Jersey. Gerard controlled the north half, including where they lived, up until the capitol, Trenton. Aberforth was an older vampire who controlled the Southern portion.

Gerard whistled in admiration. "Wow, the Killjoy Club? She's one smart demon. If she wanted to get away from you, Mikey, she really knew how to do it."

Mikey grimaced. "I know. No wonder she went to a club where Lycans aren't allowed."

Mikey still didn't like the idea of her going out by herself, but there was nothing he could do.

_'Dear Brother Orion, keep her safe tonight,' he prayed silently._

********************************************************************************************************

After an hour's bus ride, the bus pulled up to a place called The Killjoy Club. Amelia got off of the bus and adjusted her one shoulder black tank top. She checked her reflection in the mirror, and decided that her neon green eyeshadow, blue streaked hair, and glow in the dark nail polish looked good.

The building itself was painted a bright blue, and bright pink letters on the front of the building screamed, "The Killjoy Club!" in fancy script. She walked into the club and was immediately thrilled by the color. There was so much of it that it was overwhelming. She looked for any kind of bouncer, but couldn't find any. There was only a sign on a chair that said, "Color is beautiful. Embrace it." She nodded and went down the stairs

While descending the stairs, she could hear the bass-heavy music thudding behind a door. She opened the door and walked in. Neon colors were splattered on the walls, which was both beautiful and an eyesore at the same time. There was a bar near the stairs as well as several rooms off to the side. The clientele was so diverse! There were vampires dancing and feeding from humans, nymphs mingling with faeries, and trolls sitting in the corner, being antisocial.

It was so fascinating to Amelia, who had never seen so many creatures before in one place. Bodies packed the entire place, and the club smelled of sweat, blood, and something else that Amelia didn't want to acknowledge.

_"Now child, be careful in here. Don't draw any unnecessary attention to yourself, the demon warned._

_'Yeah, yeah, I know." she replied dismissively._

At first, she had no idea what to do. She was kind of thirsty, so she made her way to the bar. A handsome vampire was behind the bar. He had dark hair and bright green eyes.

"Well, hi there. Haven't seen you around here before. You new?" he shouted in order to be heard over the music.

Amelia nodded.

"Very nice. What can I get you?"

Before Amelia could reply, someone placed some money on the bar and said, "I'll take two Bloody Red Cocktails, with a splash of juice for the lady."

Amelia turned around and found herself staring at a vampire with brown hair and bright red glasses on. She couldn't place it, but he seemed so familiar. Shaking her head, she accepted the drink and thanked him.

He smiled and flashed his fangs. "No problem."

He disappeared into the crowd and Amelia knocked back the drink. All of the sudden, the club got even better! The colors were brighter and the music was louder. She ordered another cocktail the same way and stumbled to the dancefloor.

Whatever was in that drink was pretty powerful stuff. So powerful in fact, she couldn't even hear the demon nagging her, which was great. As she danced, it felt like someone was watching her. She ignored it though, and kept dancing.

She danced the night away with various partners, but she couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching her. She looked around and finally saw someone staring at her. He was sitting in the corner, and as Amelia approached, he stood up and walked over to her. He was really tall with short brown hair and brown eyes.

"Wanna dance?" he asked with a flash of fangs.

"Sure," Amelia giggled, the alcohol clearly taking effect.

As she stared into his chocolate brown eyes, she realized she could dance the entire night away.

"Then let's," he suggested and Amelia briefly wondered how he could read her mind before she was carried away by the pulsing beat..

********************************************************************************************************

Mikey was busy pacing around the house. It was almost sunrise and Amelia still wasn't back yet.

"Dude, stop pacing. You'll wear a rut in the ground," Bob said, but Mikey shook his head.

"No. Where is she? It's almost sunrise and she's not back yet. What if something bad happened to her? What if she's hurt? What if some grimy vampire is busy feeding on her? What if –" he babbled before Gerard interjected.

"You know what? If you're so worried, I'll go look for her. Ray and Frank can come with me, we'll go to the Killjoy Club, and we'll bring her back, okay?" Gerard said, trying to ease his brother's nerves.

Mikey nodded. "I want to come with you."

"You know why you can't do that. I'd never hear the end of it if I brought you into the club, let alone Abe's territory. Don't worry, we'll find her. Come on guys, let's go," Gerard said as he grabbed the keys and walked out.

********************************************************************************************************

Amelia was having a blast dancing with this guy! He was really cute and funny. He said his name was Bill, and he looked so familiar.

"You know," she slurred, "You look really familiar. I think I've seen you somewhere, but I don't know where."

"Oh really? Do tell."

"Well you see, my friend and I run an assassination business and we took down this nasty vampire named William Beckett a few years ago. He was a real slime ball. He tortured me and my friend AJ for weeks, but then my other friend Lucian came and ripped him apart! He's a big bad wolf and I'm glad he killed that sonuvabitch. You look just like him."

He laughed as he kissed her on the lips. "You talk too much."

The music they were dancing to changed to a faster song, and Amelia let out a soft moan as he grinded against her. She returned the favor and they continued dancing. She threw her head back in ecstasy as he placed kisses down her neck. His mouth stopped to rest in the middle of her neck, near the jugular vein.

Her eyes fluttered shut as she felt his teeth on her neck, and she waited to feel him bite down.

Instead, the two of them were roughly separated and a strong pair of arms caught her under her armpits. The music screeched to a halt and everyone in the club turned to look at her. She opened her eyes and saw her partner sitting on the ground, looking up. Looking behind her, she saw a shock of bright red hair.

"Hey look, it's Gerard. What are you doing here? Bill, this is my friend, Gerard," Amelia slurred drunkenly.

"Get away from her," Gerard said menacingly and bared his fangs.

"So sorry, my mistake. Have a good evening, Mr. Way," said Bill as he retreated.

As he walked away, Gerard did a double take. Could that have been…? 


	30. When The Sun Goes Down 2

"Impossible," he muttered as Amelia began to squirm in his arms.

"Come on, Gee, I wanna dance!" she protested as she tried to wiggle from his grip.

"I don't think so. You're coming home with me," he said as he dragged her out of the club. The patrons parted for him like the Red Sea. Once they ascended the stairs, the music started up again.

Amelia fought him, but he was clearly stronger. He walked outside to the black Mazda, where Frank was waiting.

"FRANKIE!" she shouted as she tried to run to him, but Gerard held her back.

"HI FRANK, HOW ARE YOU? GOSH, I MISSED YOU!" she shouted and Frank snickered.

"Jeeze, Mimi, how much did you have to drink?"

"Oh, I dunno. I guess I must be pretty drunk, huh?" she giggled.

Gerard handed her off to Frank, who got in the backseat with her. Gerard sat up front.

"Let's get out of here," he said to Ray, who sped off from the curb.

Frank tried to buckle her in, but she was squirming too much. She crawled up to Gerard and began petting his red hair.

"Gee, Gerard, your hair sure is fluffly. I like your fluffly hair. Tell me, Gerard, how, oh how, do you get your hair so fluffly?" she asked in a singsong voice.

Gerard growled slightly as she kept petting his hair. Frank grabbed her hands and tried to stop her, but she kept petting him. Gerard, evidently fed up by this, suddenly turned around and looked into her eyes.

"Sleep", he said, and almost immediately, her eyes closed and she slumped against Frank, sleeping.

"Frank, do me a favor, will you? Bite her and see how much alcohol is in her system," Gerard said and he nodded.

Frank brought one of Amelia's wrists to his mouth and gently bit down. A second later, he raised his head and rolled the window down. He spit the blood out, wiped his mouth, and rolled up the window.

"Jesus, there's enough alcohol in her system to get the entire state of Wisconsin drunk. That's all I could taste," Frank said as he grimaced.

Gerard nodded, but was quiet the rest of the way.

"What happened in there Gerard? You're awful quiet," Frank noted.

"It's nothing. She was dancing with this guy, and he looked really familiar, that's all. I'll explain when we get home," he said, and left it at that.

The rest of the ride was silent.

When they got home, Frank picked Amelia up, bridal style and carried her into the house. Mikey was pacing in the living room while Bob watched TV.

"I'm glad you guys are back. Any longer and we would've had a permanent rut in the carpet," Bob deadpanned while pointing to Mikey.

When he saw Frank carrying Amelia, he rushed over, but Gerard shoved him back into the living room.

Frank carefully undressed her and put some pajamas on her. Then he placed her in bed, shut the lights off, and walked out into the living room.

He sat down next to Ray and looked at Gerard.

"Bob, I think you'd better go get started on a magical hangover remedy, because she's going to need it," Gerard said and he nodded as he went to the kitchen.

"Well? What happened?" Mikey asked, impatient.

Gerard began to fiddle with his hands, a nervous habit.

"Well, we found the club, no problem. I went inside and Frank and Ray waited outside. It was easy enough to find Amelia. I could have smelled her a mile away, she had so much alcohol in her system," he started.

"Yeah, and?" Mikey asked.

"Well, she was dancing dirty with this one guy, so I separated them and told him to get the hell away from her. When he looked at me, though, he looked so damn familiar. He looked like…like…"

"Who? He looked like who?" Mikey demanded, impatient.

"Get me a piece of paper. I'll draw his face. I can still remember it," Gerard said.

Ray got him a piece of paper and a pencil. Gerard began to draw a rough sketch, and after a few minutes, he handed Mikey the paper. Mikey looked at it and scoffed.

"That's impossible. He's been dead for five years," he said, and Gerard shrugged.

"Who did he look like?" Frank asked.

Gerard showed them the picture and they all gasped. Staring back at them, though the hair was shorter, was none other than William Beckett.

"But Gerard, we killed him! We killed all of them. I saw Lucian and AJ tear him to pieces. There's no way he could have survived that!" Mikey protested.

"I know, but what if what we saw, wasn't what was really there? What if it all was a giant illusion created by…"

"Carden," Bob finished and Gerard nodded.

"Wow. I always knew that bastard was good, but I never thought he was that good. To pull one over on even Lucian, who's 800 years old…Wow," was all Ray could manage to say.

The room was silent for a few minutes as they processed the information that Gerard had found. Mikey broke the silence by taking a glass that was on the table next to the couch and hurling it at the wall. It shattered into a million pieces, and with a sigh, he walked angrily out of the house. Ray got up and followed him to make sure he didn't do anything stupid.

Bob came out of the kitchen with a broom and dustpan. He cleaned up Mikey's mess and handed Gerard a cup with a blue liquid in it.

"When she wakes up, make sure she drinks all of it," he said as he walked back to his room.

Gerard nodded as Frank drew the curtains to block out the quickly rising sun.

Frank went off to bed, but Gerard stayed up. He first called Aberforth to let him know what had gone on that night. Abe promised he would keep an eye out for anyone matching William's description. At about 7:00 a.m., Ray returned with Mikey and Gerard went to bed.

Ray tried to get Mikey to sleep, but he refused. He walked angrily around the living room while Ray sat in contemplative silence for most of the day, nodding off every now and then.

At about 6:00 p.m., just as Gerard and Frank began to wake up, Amelia threw open her door and walked to the bathroom as fast as she could. Mikey heard he sounds of retching and when he walked into the bathroom, hangover remedy in hand, he found Amelia laying on the ground, hanging on to the toilet for dear life.

He rubbed her back and held her hair back as she retched again. When she was done, she wiped her mouth and looked up at him.

"Thank you," she whispered, her voice hoarse.

He nodded as he gave her the cup. She drank it down, and almost immediately started to feel better. He helped her off of the floor and led her into the kitchen, where Ray was busy making some soup.

"Want some soup?" he asked Amelia and she nodded.

Ray set the soup down in front of her and she began to eat slowly.

"Mikey, what happened last night?" she asked in between spoonfuls.

Mikey and Ray looked at one another, unsure of what to say.

"Well, you got angry at me for being overprotective, so you went to the Killjoy Club, which I'm not allowed in," he started.

"According to Frank, you had a lot to drink, and Gerard said you were dancing with this one guy. Then Gerard grabbed you and brought you home. You've been sleeping for almost 12 hours," Ray finished.

Mikey and Ray had both silently agreed to not tell her about her encounter with Beckett until later.

"Oh, okay. Man, never let me do that again! I feel like crap," she said, massaging her temples.

The two of them nodded.

The next few days were, for the most part, uneventful. Amelia mostly stayed in, content with watching television with Frank and playing cards with Ray and Bob. Gerard and Mikey were pretty scarce during that time. They were always at meetings, which was fine with Amelia.

One night, towards the end of her stay, Gerard decided to make dinner for Amelia. Though Frank, Mikey, and he did not need to eat, he thought he would do something special, so he made her fettuccini alfredo. He was out of oregano though, and needed some more. She jumped at the chance to get out of the house again.

Amelia walked to the little spice shop by herself after convincing Mikey that she would be fine on her own. Any trouble and she would call, she had promised. She walked into the shop and was immediately greeted by tons of different aromas and flavors. It was delightfully overwhelming! She grabbed a small basket and began to peruse the shop.

After a few minutes, she found the type of oregano that Gerard was looking for. She walked towards the checkout counter, when suddenly, a familiar voice whispered in her ear, "Hey there, sugar. How you doin'?"

She gasped as a chill rippled up her spine and she dropped the jar of oregano. Her mystery visitor laughed and caught it with ease. He handed it back to her and she turned to look at him. Her eyes widened. There was no way she could mistake that face, those eyes.

"Beckett?" she whispered.

He laughed, low and long. "That's right, baby. I'm back." 


	31. When The Sun Goes Down 3

**************************In California****************************

Adeline giggled happily as she jumped off the plane. It felt good to be back in California! She had had fun backpacking across Europe with George, Nina, and Michael, but she missed California.

She invited George and Nina back to the apartment for some tea before the two had to catch their plane back to Budapest. The four of them walked to the apartment she shared with Amelia.

"Hey AJ, where is Amelia?" asked Chislett as they walked into the building.

"Oh, she's in New Jersey. She's visiting Mikey," she explained as she pushed the button for the elevator.

As soon as the elevator arrived, the four of them stepped onto the elevator and rode it up to the sixth floor. The moment that they stepped off the elevator, though, something was wrong.

"Do you sense that?" George asked, sniffing the air.

"It feels so heavy up here, like there's something there that shouldn't be there," Nina replied.

The four kept walking, but the feeling of dread only increased the closer they got to the apartment. As AJ went to put her key in the door, Chislett grabbed her hand.

"Let me go first. We don't know what's in there," he said, and she nodded.

He put the key in the lock and twisted it. He cautiously opened the door and waited, in case something tried to attack him. When nothing happened, he walked forward, motioning for the others to follow behind him.

When he entered the apartment, his nose was filled with an overwhelmingly familiar scent.

"No way," he muttered quietly.

George closed the door behind them and the four walked into the living room. AJ turned on the light, and noticed someone sitting in Amelia's computer chair.

"Rae, is that you? You're home early," she said as she tried to identify the person by smell, but they were unfamiliar.

The person in the chair spun around slowly, and AJ was slightly relieved when it was only a vampire. He was a young one, with brown hair and brown eyes. He looked lost and slightly scared.

"Hey there, buddy. How did you get in here? Do you need some help?" she asked as she walked over to him.

He didn't say anything, only pointed at the window, which was wide open. This was not good. If the window was open, anyone could have gotten in.

The moment that AJ walked forward, a barrage of fists descended down on the four of them, who were too stunned to fight back. They fell to the ground.

"Now, why don't you guys just stay there?" said a familiar voice, and suddenly, the four felt as if they were unable to move.

Sitting on the floor, dumbfounded, they had no choice but look at the owner of the voice as he came strolling out of AJ's bedroom. AJ let out a gasp and Chislett's eyes widened.

Brendon Urie and Mike Carden had just walked out of the room with two other vampires in tow.

"Wait, what? You guys are supposed to be dead! How are you still alive?" she asked, and Mike reached out and slapped her across the face.

"Shut up, you stupid dirty mutt," he said as he wore his trademark smirk.

She let out a growl, but neither vampire so much as flinched.

"Surprised to see us? I guess you want to know how we survived, don't you?" Brendon asked.

"Wow Brendon, I mean, always knew you were smart, but damn, that takes the cake!" Chislett retorted snarkily, happy when Brendon's face contorted into a snarl.

He ignored him, but continued.

"Well, we were obviously smarter than you guys if Mike here managed to create a giant illusion that fooled all of you –"

"Yeah, and look how you use the past tense, 'were'. What's wrong, not so sure of yourselves when you're up against two werewolves, a vampire, and a hybrid?" Nina taunted.

Brendon stopped mid-sentence and walked over to Nina. He grabbed her chin in his hand and looked deep into her eyes.

"Humph, I know you. You and Twinkle Toes there are friends of John Mitchell. Don't think that we'll go easy on you just because you know him," Brendon threatened.

"Get your hands off of her," George snarled.

"Oh, you don't like it when I touch your mate, do you? Come on then, Twinkle Toes. Do something!" Brendon challenged.

George moved faster than Brendon anticipated and ripped his hand away from Nina.

George could feel the anger flooding his veins as he threw a punch at Brendon. With Brendon distracted, Michael and AJ both got up and turned to look at Carden. AJ lunged at him, wanting to rip his throat out for real this time. Chislett attempted to try and back her up, when she suddenly ran at him, her anger completely redirected.

"AJ, what's going on? It's me, Michael!" he yelled over the commotion as he tried to dodge her fists.

She growled in response and threw more punches at him. Thankfully, he was able to dodge them.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see one of the vampires that was standing next to Mike smirking. He could sense a power coming from him. That must have been the source of AJ's anger!

He pushed AJ backwards as she ran at him and she crashed into the wall. Chislett took that opportunity to launch a fireball at the vampire. It knocked him back a few steps, and suddenly, the energy he had been sensing stopped.

"You're an empath, aren't you? You were manipulating her emotions," Michael said as he dodged an accidental fist from George.

The vampire laughed. "Wow, aren't you smart? Want a cookie or something?"

"No thank, mate. I'll just settle for killing you," Chislett said with a smirk.

He threw a barrage of fireballs at this vampire, who couldn't dodge them fast enough. As he readied himself for the kill, the vampire who had been sitting at the computer chair came up behind Chislett and placed his hand on the back of his neck. The fireball that was in his hand dissipated completely. He tried to summon another one, but it wouldn't work.

He turned to look at the vampire.

"What the hell did you just do to me, you little milksop?" Michael demanded angrily.

"First off, his name is Ryan," Brendon said as he slammed George into the ground with a thud. "And secondly, he just took away your ability to summon fire. He's a copycat, just like you, but better. He permanently retains the ability, and he can do it through touch. No bite necessary," Brendon said with a triumphant grin.

"You little bugger, I'm going to kill you!" Chislett yelled as he ran at Brendon, this time with sparks of lightning radiating from his hand.

He clearly wasn't expecting to be tackled by Mike and held down in place. He struggled against Mike, but all of the sudden, he felt an overwhelming sensation of calm wash over him. He didn't want to fight Mike anymore. Everything was fine.

"Michael, no!" he heard a voice yell, but he was feeling too good to care about anything except how great he was feeling.

Then he suddenly got really sleepy. The last thing he remembered was a burning pain in his head, and then nothing.

When he regained consciousness, he was sitting upright on a bed. His hands were tied behind his back and there was a putrid-smelling cloth in his mouth. He felt weak, like he had been run over and then backed over by two semi-trucks.

He looked next to him and found AJ slowly coming back to consciousness, bound and gagged like he was. He looked around for George and Nina, but couldn't find them anywhere.

The smells in the room told him that he must be in Amelia's room. He looked up and saw Brendon and Mike sitting in chairs across from them. The three other vampires stood to the side.

"Good to see you guys are both awake. Let's make a little call, shall we?" Mike said as he took out a phone.

"Hey, that's my phone!" AJ protested in a muffled voice, but Mike didn't care.

He sent a text message to someone, who replied moments later.

"Alrighty, let's chat," Brendon said as he opened up a laptop computer. 


	32. When The Sun Goes Down 4

*****************************Back in New Jersey********************************

"Beckett would be pretty stupid to go after AJ if she has all of that help with her," Sebastien said, and everyone nodded.

"Speaking of AJ, where is she?" Frank asked.

"She decided to go backpacking through Europe for two weeks with Michael, George, and Nina."

Gerard was silent during this whole exchange before he asked the question that was on everybody's mind.

"Amelia, when was the last time you heard from AJ?"

"Uh, it's been a couple of days. Why?"

"Just wondering," he said.

At that moment, Amelia's cellphone beeped from inside her room. She went to go get it.

"What's up?" Ray asked.

"Just got a text from AJ. She said she's back in California and she wants to Skype and tell me all about her trip," Amelia said as she went back into her room to go get her laptop.

She sat down on the floor and everyone crowded around her. She opened Skype and clicked on AJ's name, which was highlighted in green. It made the call and eventually, AJ picked up.

When the video came into focus, there were two smiling faces looking back at her. Instead of AJ, like she expected, Amelia was looking at Mike Carden and Brendon Urie.

Her throat immediately went dry and it was difficult to breathe.

_"Child, calm down. You can't panic at a time like this," the demon reminded her._

"Hiiiiiii Amelia," Brendon said with a wave and a goofy grin.

"How's it going?" Carden asked, also smiling.

"What the hell have you done with AJ, Michael, George, and Nina?" she asked, her voice hoarse.

"Wow, she won't even say hello to us. How rude. Woulda thought your parents would have taught you better. Oh wait, that's right, you wouldn't know what it's like to have parents, because you killed them!" Brendon taunted, a gleam in his eye.

Amelia gasped. How did he know about that? No one, other than AJ, knew that about Amelia.

"That didn't answer my question. Where are they?" she demanded, keeping her voice level.

"Wow, so pushy. Fine, fine, they're right here," Brendon said as he turned the laptop around. He pointed the camera at the bed, and she saw two figures sitting on a bed. Amelia's bed. It was Michael and AJ! They were both tied up and had something in their mouths.

She couldn't see George or Nina.

"Where are George and Nina?" she asked.

"Oh, you mean Twinkle Toes and that blonde bitch? Don't worry, we let them go. They should be on the way back to Budapest." Mike replied.

Mikey growled. How dare they talk about them like that? Almost as if on cue, Amelia got a call on her cell phone.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Amelia? It's George," came the reply.

"George? Where are you? Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yes, I'm fine, my lady. Nina is here too and she is okay as well. But those men, they have Adeline and Michael!"

"I know, George. I'm talking to them right now. Are you on your way to Budapest?"

"Yes, we are."

"Good. Glad to hear you are safe," she said as she bade him farewell and hung up.

"See? They're fine," Brendon said, and Amelia suddenly realized something. The bed that Chislett and AJ were sitting on seemed familiar.

"You're in my room. How did you get in my room? No one should have been able to break through the wards," Amelia said slowly, her head dizzy with paranoia.

"Well, you'd think that. I mean, Michael here was the only cursebreaker. We have one too, though, and he was able to break through them. I mean, it was difficult. You had this place pretty well secured. But our new guy, he was able to do it," Brendon explained.

"New guy? What new guy?" Sebastien asked.

"Oh hey there, Sebastien. Didn't see you there. How's everything up in dat dere Canada, eh? See you brought your friends, eh? What's that all aboot?" Mike asked, clearly making fun of Sebastien and his friends.

Sebastien growled and bared his razor sharp canines.

"My my, he's awfully touchy, don't you think, Mike?" Brendon remarked.

"Yes, he really is. You know what I realized, Brendon?"

"What's that, Mike?"

"We've also been pretty rude. We haven't even introduced them to our new friends."

"Oh, you're right! How terribly rude of us. Guys, come and say hello."

Three other people walked into the picture. One was a tall, skinny guy with brown hair and brown eyes. One had black hair and dark eyes, with a small amount of stubble. The last one, who looked the least comfortable, had brown hair and kept fidgeting.

"These are the newest members of the Dandies: Ryan Ross, Jon Walker, and Spencer Smith," Brendon said with a grand flourish of his hand.

"Hello, Robert," said the one named Jon.

Everyone turned to look at Bob, who had turned as pale as a ghost.

"Jon Walker," he gulped. "What are you doing with them? I haven't seen you since…" and he trailed off.

"Since the 1939 World's Fair. That was a long time ago. Times have changed and so have I. I decided to get out of Chicago and these guys made me an offer I couldn't refuse," Jon replied, smiling.

Bob sat back in his seat, and held his head in his hands.

"So you got some new sires. Big deal," Frank said.

"Actually, it is a big deal, Frank. You see, Ryan here is a copycat, just like Michael. The only difference is that he can steal people's abilities with just a touch, making him far more deadly than this little pansy. Spencer is a clairvoyant, which is how we knew Adeline over there was coming back tonight. And Jon here can manipulate emotions like nobody's business. So it really is quite a big deal," Brendon replied, smiling.

"Yeah, yeah. What do you want with AJ and Michael?" Gerard asked, waving his hands dismissively.

"Oh, I'm so glad you asked! I'd almost forgotten about them. Mike, why don't you tell them?"

"Gladly. You see, after disgracing William and making him lose control of his city, he wanted revenge. He wanted to make sure that you all suffered in retaliation for wronging him," he began.

"So, what does that have to do with AJ and Michael?" Amelia interjected.

"Well, if you wouldn't be so rude and keep interrupting me, maybe I could tell you," Carden replied with a glare.

"Anyway, in the five years that we've lain low, we recruited new members and we came up with various scenarios as to how we were going to do this. For a while, we were stumped. Then we heard through the grapevine that your friend Adeline here was going to Europe. It was really the perfect opportunity. I mean, the doorman was so nice to let us in when we explained that we were relatives of Adeline's. The wards were a little tough to crack, but Ryan here got the job done."

"You know, for an undead bastard who doesn't need to breathe, you sure do let out a lot of hot air," David remarked, and Mike looked at him.

"That's an awfully snappy remark coming from you. David Desrosiers, 32 years old. Half-vampire, half-human. Bass player for Simple Plan," Mike recited.

"Wow, so you did your research. Big deal," Chuck retorted.

"You're damn right I did, Charles Andre Comeau, Waterbending master and drummer for Simple Plan. Need I say more?" Mike asked.

Everyone was stunned into silence.

"Well, now that they've all shut up, I think it's time we move onto the main event, don't you, Brendon?"

"I agree, Mike."

Brendon got up off of his chair, and Mike turned the laptop around so that it was facing the bed. He walked over to Chislett and took the gag out of his mouth.

Before Brendon had the opportunity to say anything, Chislett used a burst of telekinesis to hurl a chair at Brendon, which knocked him down. As he was going to hit him again, Chislett felt that wave of calm descend over him again. Then Ryan walked over and placed his hand on his head.  
>The chair fell from the air, but Ryan caught it with telekinesis and placed it back next to Mike. Brendon got up and grabbed something off the floor.<p>

Amelia exchanged nervous glances with everyone.

"So this is it, huh mate?" Chislett asked.

"Sure is. Say goodnight, Santi," Brendon said as he swung a large scythe.

The scythe sailed through the air and lopped Chislett's head straight off. It tumbled to the floor with a thud as blood spurted from the wound. AJ screamed and tried to get away as blood soaked everything. Then Brendon took a smaller knife and stabbed it into Chislett's chest and the body disintegrated into dust.

He looked at the camera and smiled. "Sleep tight, everyone, and don't lose your heads!"

Then the screen went black as the call ended. 


	33. When The Sun Goes Down 5

Amelia was a trained assassin, someone who killed for a living, someone who was used to death. Nothing though, could have prepared her for that. She got up and ran to the kitchen, barely making it to the garbage can before the contents of her stomach forced their way back up through her throat. She coughed and gagged as stomach acid burned her throat. She sank down to her knees and put her hands in her head. She let out a mournful wail and sobbed.

Everyone in the living room was too shocked to say or do anything for a while. After about ten minutes, Mikey walked into the kitchen and picked Amelia up. He rocked gently from side to side as she cried, and rubbed her back.

When she had calmed down, he brought her back into the living room and sat her down on his lap. She trembled in his grasp.

For almost an hour, no one knew what to say or do. Mikey held Amelia tight as she sniffled, afraid of losing her if he let her go.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As soon as Brendon ended the call on their side of the Skype line, he smiled and turned to Carden.

"Well, looks as though the hybrid's taking it rougher than we thought. You going to do something about that?"

In the background, still tied up and gagged, AJ continued screaming. Her rugby jersey from the trip was soaked with Chislett's blood, and tears streamed down her face. The one vampire she legitly thought she had something with, not by mind control, but by sheer common interest and mutual attraction….was nothing but dust and blood.

"Well, she shouldn't be too hard to subdue…first night we had them at the mansion I got her under control in no time," Carden reasoned, walking over to the bed where the girl was still tied up. He undid the gag and then smirked, letting her know things weren't going to get any better.

"You bastard…once you let me go I'm gonna kill you!" She sobbed, throat sore from screaming.

"Yeah….you really think we're letting you go?" the vampire named Ryan added from across the room.

"You'll pay…Amelia and her friends are going to kill you bastards once and for all!" AJ tried to sound brave, but everything that had just occurred was already taking a toll on her.  
>And when Carden climbed up onto the bed, where Chislett had been not five minutes before, AJ realized where it was going. She flinched as his hand rested on her cheek, wiping her tears away. She'd tried desperately to put distance between herself and the vampire but couldn't move.<p>

"This won't be like your first night at the mansion where I had to struggle to pin you down. You're helpless as is. Speaking of being at the mansion…you remember Beckett, don't you? Of course you do, he loved you…and you loved him, until your bitch of a friend told you otherwise. You don't know how jealous I was of him….for being able to control you so effortlessly to the point where he could turn you….that should have been me. I wanted you, and he knew it. By turning you, he only served to make resent the fact, and now I'll fight until your will is as easily broken as it was before."

"Get away from me, or I'll turn." AJ threatened, hoping she could still phase out of sheer willpower while under so much stress.

"Please do, these three have yet to see a lycan in wolf form," Brendon added, motioning to the new vampires.

Carden almost smiled, leaning in closer to her to whisper in her ear, "Really going to be that way, are we?" AJ growled, partially expecting the slap in the face this earned her.

"Even though Beckett turned you, you're still that same stupid mutt I held down in the foyer. He had it harder than I thought, you're a lot less inclined to believe what people say…" he trailed off, and AJ caught him staring at her lips. But a second later he looked into her eyes, and then turned to look at the vampire named Jon. Both nodded.

Suddenly AJ felt like nothing was wrong. She knew that she was with vampires, but they weren't going to hurt her. In fact, she tried to remember – did one of them try to set up a date with her? She blinked, finding one of the vampires sitting next to her on the bed. His gaze was warm, and she could swear he kept looking at her lips.

_"Great….'_ She thought. _'He's probably going to try to kiss me…it's the English pubs all over again.' _And no sooner had she thought that, and then did she find the vampire's lips against her own.

_'Wait….not this again…Beckett was bad enough. I'm not falling for this again!' _AJ thought, snapping out of the eerily calm she'd felt.

"Carden…she's not staying in the emotional barrier," Jon warned.

"She's getting pissed…the only thing that going to keep her from turning on you is if you bite her now," Spencer added worriedly.

Carden reluctantly pulled away from the hybrid, turning her head and without a second thought, sank his fangs into her neck, not bothering to flinch at her gasp. Her blood was still just as good as the first time he'd tasted it, although he could detect the difference now that she was a hybrid.  
><strong><br>**After he'd had his fill, he pulled away, smiling at the marks left on her neck. They would heal, but not before he would startle her friend a little more.

Grabbing her phone, he easily found the camera and then took a picture of her neck, fresh droplets of blood still on her pale skin. The phone clicked as the picture was taken, and then Carden loaded up a picture message and sent it. Setting the phone down, he looked at the blonde.  
>She was struggling to keep herself aware of her surroundings, her eyelids fluttering open, her breathing shallow. She kept trying to talk, although she was in a haze.<p>

"Y-You…w-won't g-get…get away with th-this…"

Her lip twitched in a snarl as Carden put a finger against her lips, "Oh, I think we will. And I'll make sure your dreams aren't sweet tonight. But still try to get some rest anyways, with what we have planned for you, you're going to need it."

And with that, he and the others left the room, leaving a confused and scared Adeline behind.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AJ tried to sleep, close her eyes and focus on breathing. But it was so odd! Just…everything that had happened to her in the past two hours….she wanted it all to be a lie.

Closing her eyes, she was so wanting to slip off. By the time she was finally able to, things were as Carden promised, these dreams were far from sweet.

They were the exact opposite, and it was as though she was reliving the memories of her days under Beckett's control. When she believed he loved her, would protect her, care for her. When she thought it wasn't just a game. Each scene playing in her head only made her heart ache more, the stillness of the room reminding her why these dreams were so bittersweet. Chislett was gone, and here Carden was, taunting her with memories of the past, when love at least had a chance, although its intentions had never been pure.

Sighing, she opened her eyes. Sleep was better off not meeting her tonight. As she thought about those memories and then the ones she'd created with Chislett over the past five years, she began to cry. And as she cried, part of her almost wished, as bad as she knew it sounded, that Beckett had shown up along with Carden and Brendon. Then at least maybe someone would be there to hold her.

Amelia finally lifted her head from Mikey's shoulder, realizing her phone was going off. It was a picture message from AJ. Clicking it open, she wasn't surprised when it wasn't a happy image.

"Hey Gerard?"

"Yes?"

"How soon can you get me a plane ticket out to California?"

"I don't think that's a good idea….if we split up, they could easily take you with them again…but I could get one for the last plane out tonight if you want…why?"

"Look."

Amelia turned the phone, simply saying, "I'm not the only one that's been bit."

The picture wasn't really startling, but once the group thought about who it was, that's when it became disturbing.

Amelia couldn't look at it, knowing it was AJ. Fresh droplets of blood surrounded two puncture marks on her neck, and the only text sent along with the message was, 'This is just the beginning. It's not over.'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
>Gerard bought Amelia a plane ticket back to California. On Mikey's insistence, though, David, Sebastien, Jeff, and Bob had gone with her. Gerard, Ray, Frank, Pierre, and Chuck had stayed back in Jersey to keep a lookout for Beckett. The five of them boarded the plane and soon, they were soaring through the skies back to California.<p>

Eventually, they arrived at O'Hare Airport and after being cleared by security, they were allowed to leave. They didn't even bother bringing any luggage with them because Amelia insisted that it would be a quick trip. Amelia led them to the apartment which she and AJ shared. When they walked into the apartment, everything was spotless. It was like Brendon, Mike, and the others had never even been there.

"Well, at least they cleaned up after themselves," David joked, trying to lighten the mood.

Sebastien just shot him a dirty look that told him that this was no time for jokes.

Amelia walked quietly through the apartment, tracing where their feet had walked, eyes scanning over everything. She was looking for some kind of sign, something that would prove that what had happened had actually happened, that it hadn't been just another illusion.

"Hey Mimi, I think you'd better come in here," Sebastien called from inside her bedroom.

She walked into her room and was horrified. The room was just as it had been left when Brendon ended the call. There was a puddle of blood on her bed, surrounded by a pile of ash. She walked over to it and ran her fingers through it sadly.

"What do you want us to do with the ashes?" Sebastien asked.

"Scatter them, right out the window. He deserves to be free after being captured by the likes of them," Amelia said and Seb nodded.

David walked over to the pile of ashes and held out his hand. He created a small current of air which lifted the ashes off of the bed and out of Amelia's window, which was still open.

"You're an Airbender?" she asked, confused.

David nodded. "Yup, I was actually born an Airbender before I became a half-vampire."

Amelia shut the window and walked out of the room. Jeff and Bob were inspecting the kitchen, so Amelia walked into the bathroom. She pulled back the shower curtain, almost expecting something to jump out at her. When she pulled the curtain back, she let out a scream.

Sebastien and David immediately ran into the bathroom and gasped at what they saw. Jeff and Bob followed.

Sitting on the top shelf was Chislett's severed head, the mouth agape as it stared out of lifeless eyes.

"Those sick bastards!" Sebastien exclaimed, angry that they would dishonor his death in such a way.

Amelia stared at it for a moment before realizing his eyes weren't staring at them. They were looking at something else in the room. She followed his gaze and it came to rest on the bathroom mirror. Upon closer inspection, she saw a folded piece of paper sticking out of the corner of the mirror.

"Hey Bob, can you grab that for me?" she asked and he nodded.

He handed her the piece of paper and she looked at it. All it said was "Tune to channel 145".

"What does it mean?" Jeff wanted to know.

Amelia knew what it meant. She walked out into the living room and picked up the remote. She turned on the TV and turned it to channel 145.

When she turned it to the channel, it looked like some sort of grainy video feed. She could see AJ, tied up and most likely unconscious. She gasped.

Just as someone was about to say something, Brendon walked into the picture, wearing his trademark smirk.

"Hey there, guys. I guess you found my little note. Sorry about your friend Michael there. He kind of lost his head, if you know what I mean," he said, smiling.

"What the hell have you done with AJ?" Amelia said.

"Oh her? Well, let's just say that Mike got a little hungry and took a little too much. Don't worry though, we'll take good care of her."  
>"What do you want?" Sebastien asked, getting right to the point.<p>

"Oh yes, I almost forgot. William would like to inform you of something. He has a proposal, a little "game" if you will. You see, we've hidden little Adeline here somewhere, and we want you to use your super smart demon skills to come and find her! You have 48 hours to come and find her. If you can manage to locate her within the time, we will let her go and we will leave you alone forever. However, if you don't, we'll kill her on the spot, and we will continue to make your lives hell for all eternity. How does that sound?"

"You won't live long enough to torture us for all eternity once I find you!" Amelia asserted and Brendon laughed.

"My my, you're quite the feisty one, aren't you? That's good, I like 'em like that," he replied with a wink.

"Sorry, not interested."

"Oh well, that doesn't matter. Anyway, do you guys want to play?"

Amelia turned to look at the four guys. They huddled together and talked amongst themselves.

As they did, Brendon began to hum the theme song from Jeopardy.

"Tick tock, tick tock. Time's a-wastin'!" he called.

They eventually decided to play their little game, if for nothing more than to save AJ.

"I'm so glad you guys decided to play! William will be pleased. Oh, and before I go, I should tell you: Where we are, it's already tomorrow, so you now only have 36 hours to come and find her. Toodaloo!" he said with a wave, and the video feed cut out.

Amelia felt the rage flood her entire being! How dare they treat her best friend's life like a game! In a fit of rage, she took out a knife from her pocket and threw it at the TV, smashing the screen in. As she angrily retrieved her knife, she turned to Bob, who was the most skilled with technology.

"Do you think you could track that?"

"Well, I could have been able to track it before you smashed it," he deadpanned and she yelled in frustration. Before she could smash anything else, Sebastien put a hand on her shoulder.

"Come on, Amelia. Let's go back to New Jersey. We need to regroup with everyone," he suggested and she nodded.

"What should we do with the head?" Jeff asked.

"Let's send it back to Australia, so that it can be properly buried," Amelia said and he nodded.

They literally shipped the vampire's severed head back to Australia, with a note explaining the situation and requesting that it be properly buried.

Then Bob recited a transportation spell, which sent them all back to Jersey.


	34. When The Sun Goes Down 6

Amelia was a trained assassin, someone who killed for a living, someone who was used to death. Nothing though, could have prepared her for that. She got up and ran to the kitchen, barely making it to the garbage can before the contents of her stomach forced their way back up through her throat. She coughed and gagged as stomach acid burned her throat. She sank down to her knees and put her hands in her head. She let out a mournful wail and sobbed.

Everyone in the living room was too shocked to say or do anything for a while. After about ten minutes, Mikey walked into the kitchen and picked Amelia up. He rocked gently from side to side as she cried, and rubbed her back.

When she had calmed down, he brought her back into the living room and sat her down on his lap. She trembled in his grasp.

For almost an hour, no one knew what to say or do. Mikey held Amelia tight as she sniffled, afraid of losing her if he let her go.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As soon as Brendon ended the call on their side of the Skype line, he smiled and turned to Carden.

"Well, looks as though the hybrid's taking it rougher than we thought. You going to do something about that?"

In the background, still tied up and gagged, AJ continued screaming. Her rugby jersey from the trip was soaked with Chislett's blood, and tears streamed down her face. The one vampire she legitly thought she had something with, not by mind control, but by sheer common interest and mutual attraction….was nothing but dust and blood.

"Well, she shouldn't be too hard to subdue…first night we had them at the mansion I got her under control in no time," Carden reasoned, walking over to the bed where the girl was still tied up. He undid the gag and then smirked, letting her know things weren't going to get any better.

"You bastard…once you let me go I'm gonna kill you!" She sobbed, throat sore from screaming.

"Yeah….you really think we're letting you go?" the vampire named Ryan added from across the room.

"You'll pay…Amelia and her friends are going to kill you bastards once and for all!" AJ tried to sound brave, but everything that had just occurred was already taking a toll on her.  
>And when Carden climbed up onto the bed, where Chislett had been not five minutes before, AJ realized where it was going. She flinched as his hand rested on her cheek, wiping her tears away. She'd tried desperately to put distance between herself and the vampire but couldn't move.<p>

"This won't be like your first night at the mansion where I had to struggle to pin you down. You're helpless as is. Speaking of being at the mansion…you remember Beckett, don't you? Of course you do, he loved you…and you loved him, until your bitch of a friend told you otherwise. You don't know how jealous I was of him….for being able to control you so effortlessly to the point where he could turn you….that should have been me. I wanted you, and he knew it. By turning you, he only served to make resent the fact, and now I'll fight until your will is as easily broken as it was before."

"Get away from me, or I'll turn." AJ threatened, hoping she could still phase out of sheer willpower while under so much stress.

"Please do, these three have yet to see a lycan in wolf form," Brendon added, motioning to the new vampires.

Carden almost smiled, leaning in closer to her to whisper in her ear, "Really going to be that way, are we?" AJ growled, partially expecting the slap in the face this earned her.

"Even though Beckett turned you, you're still that same stupid mutt I held down in the foyer. He had it harder than I thought, you're a lot less inclined to believe what people say…" he trailed off, and AJ caught him staring at her lips. But a second later he looked into her eyes, and then turned to look at the vampire named Jon. Both nodded.

Suddenly AJ felt like nothing was wrong. She knew that she was with vampires, but they weren't going to hurt her. In fact, she tried to remember – did one of them try to set up a date with her? She blinked, finding one of the vampires sitting next to her on the bed. His gaze was warm, and she could swear he kept looking at her lips.

_"Great….'_ She thought. _'He's probably going to try to kiss me…it's the English pubs all over again.' _And no sooner had she thought that, and then did she find the vampire's lips against her own.

_'Wait….not this again…Beckett was bad enough. I'm not falling for this again!' _AJ thought, snapping out of the eerily calm she'd felt.

"Carden…she's not staying in the emotional barrier," Jon warned.

"She's getting pissed…the only thing that going to keep her from turning on you is if you bite her now," Spencer added worriedly.

Carden reluctantly pulled away from the hybrid, turning her head and without a second thought, sank his fangs into her neck, not bothering to flinch at her gasp. Her blood was still just as good as the first time he'd tasted it, although he could detect the difference now that she was a hybrid.  
><strong><br>**After he'd had his fill, he pulled away, smiling at the marks left on her neck. They would heal, but not before he would startle her friend a little more.

Grabbing her phone, he easily found the camera and then took a picture of her neck, fresh droplets of blood still on her pale skin. The phone clicked as the picture was taken, and then Carden loaded up a picture message and sent it. Setting the phone down, he looked at the blonde.  
>She was struggling to keep herself aware of her surroundings, her eyelids fluttering open, her breathing shallow. She kept trying to talk, although she was in a haze.<p>

"Y-You…w-won't g-get…get away with th-this…"

Her lip twitched in a snarl as Carden put a finger against her lips, "Oh, I think we will. And I'll make sure your dreams aren't sweet tonight. But still try to get some rest anyways, with what we have planned for you, you're going to need it."

And with that, he and the others left the room, leaving a confused and scared Adeline behind.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AJ tried to sleep, close her eyes and focus on breathing. But it was so odd! Just…everything that had happened to her in the past two hours….she wanted it all to be a lie.

Closing her eyes, she was so wanting to slip off. By the time she was finally able to, things were as Carden promised, these dreams were far from sweet.

They were the exact opposite, and it was as though she was reliving the memories of her days under Beckett's control. When she believed he loved her, would protect her, care for her. When she thought it wasn't just a game. Each scene playing in her head only made her heart ache more, the stillness of the room reminding her why these dreams were so bittersweet. Chislett was gone, and here Carden was, taunting her with memories of the past, when love at least had a chance, although its intentions had never been pure.

Sighing, she opened her eyes. Sleep was better off not meeting her tonight. As she thought about those memories and then the ones she'd created with Chislett over the past five years, she began to cry. And as she cried, part of her almost wished, as bad as she knew it sounded, that Beckett had shown up along with Carden and Brendon. Then at least maybe someone would be there to hold her.

Amelia finally lifted her head from Mikey's shoulder, realizing her phone was going off. It was a picture message from AJ. Clicking it open, she wasn't surprised when it wasn't a happy image.

"Hey Gerard?"

"Yes?"

"How soon can you get me a plane ticket out to California?"

"I don't think that's a good idea….if we split up, they could easily take you with them again…but I could get one for the last plane out tonight if you want…why?"

"Look."

Amelia turned the phone, simply saying, "I'm not the only one that's been bit."

The picture wasn't really startling, but once the group thought about who it was, that's when it became disturbing.

Amelia couldn't look at it, knowing it was AJ. Fresh droplets of blood surrounded two puncture marks on her neck, and the only text sent along with the message was, 'This is just the beginning. It's not over.'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
>Gerard bought Amelia a plane ticket back to California. On Mikey's insistence, though, David, Sebastien, Jeff, and Bob had gone with her. Gerard, Ray, Frank, Pierre, and Chuck had stayed back in Jersey to keep a lookout for Beckett. The five of them boarded the plane and soon, they were soaring through the skies back to California.<p>

Eventually, they arrived at O'Hare Airport and after being cleared by security, they were allowed to leave. They didn't even bother bringing any luggage with them because Amelia insisted that it would be a quick trip. Amelia led them to the apartment which she and AJ shared. When they walked into the apartment, everything was spotless. It was like Brendon, Mike, and the others had never even been there.

"Well, at least they cleaned up after themselves," David joked, trying to lighten the mood.

Sebastien just shot him a dirty look that told him that this was no time for jokes.

Amelia walked quietly through the apartment, tracing where their feet had walked, eyes scanning over everything. She was looking for some kind of sign, something that would prove that what had happened had actually happened, that it hadn't been just another illusion.

"Hey Mimi, I think you'd better come in here," Sebastien called from inside her bedroom.

She walked into her room and was horrified. The room was just as it had been left when Brendon ended the call. There was a puddle of blood on her bed, surrounded by a pile of ash. She walked over to it and ran her fingers through it sadly.

"What do you want us to do with the ashes?" Sebastien asked.

"Scatter them, right out the window. He deserves to be free after being captured by the likes of them," Amelia said and Seb nodded.

David walked over to the pile of ashes and held out his hand. He created a small current of air which lifted the ashes off of the bed and out of Amelia's window, which was still open.

"You're an Airbender?" she asked, confused.

David nodded. "Yup, I was actually born an Airbender before I became a half-vampire."

Amelia shut the window and walked out of the room. Jeff and Bob were inspecting the kitchen, so Amelia walked into the bathroom. She pulled back the shower curtain, almost expecting something to jump out at her. When she pulled the curtain back, she let out a scream.

Sebastien and David immediately ran into the bathroom and gasped at what they saw. Jeff and Bob followed.

Sitting on the top shelf was Chislett's severed head, the mouth agape as it stared out of lifeless eyes.

"Those sick bastards!" Sebastien exclaimed, angry that they would dishonor his death in such a way.

Amelia stared at it for a moment before realizing his eyes weren't staring at them. They were looking at something else in the room. She followed his gaze and it came to rest on the bathroom mirror. Upon closer inspection, she saw a folded piece of paper sticking out of the corner of the mirror.

"Hey Bob, can you grab that for me?" she asked and he nodded.

He handed her the piece of paper and she looked at it. All it said was "Tune to channel 145".

"What does it mean?" Jeff wanted to know.

Amelia knew what it meant. She walked out into the living room and picked up the remote. She turned on the TV and turned it to channel 145.

When she turned it to the channel, it looked like some sort of grainy video feed. She could see AJ, tied up and most likely unconscious. She gasped.

Just as someone was about to say something, Brendon walked into the picture, wearing his trademark smirk.

"Hey there, guys. I guess you found my little note. Sorry about your friend Michael there. He kind of lost his head, if you know what I mean," he said, smiling.

"What the hell have you done with AJ?" Amelia said.

"Oh her? Well, let's just say that Mike got a little hungry and took a little too much. Don't worry though, we'll take good care of her."  
>"What do you want?" Sebastien asked, getting right to the point.<p>

"Oh yes, I almost forgot. William would like to inform you of something. He has a proposal, a little "game" if you will. You see, we've hidden little Adeline here somewhere, and we want you to use your super smart demon skills to come and find her! You have 48 hours to come and find her. If you can manage to locate her within the time, we will let her go and we will leave you alone forever. However, if you don't, we'll kill her on the spot, and we will continue to make your lives hell for all eternity. How does that sound?"

"You won't live long enough to torture us for all eternity once I find you!" Amelia asserted and Brendon laughed.

"My my, you're quite the feisty one, aren't you? That's good, I like 'em like that," he replied with a wink.

"Sorry, not interested."

"Oh well, that doesn't matter. Anyway, do you guys want to play?"

Amelia turned to look at the four guys. They huddled together and talked amongst themselves.

As they did, Brendon began to hum the theme song from Jeopardy.

"Tick tock, tick tock. Time's a-wastin'!" he called.

They eventually decided to play their little game, if for nothing more than to save AJ.

"I'm so glad you guys decided to play! William will be pleased. Oh, and before I go, I should tell you: Where we are, it's already tomorrow, so you now only have 36 hours to come and find her. Toodaloo!" he said with a wave, and the video feed cut out.

Amelia felt the rage flood her entire being! How dare they treat her best friend's life like a game! In a fit of rage, she took out a knife from her pocket and threw it at the TV, smashing the screen in. As she angrily retrieved her knife, she turned to Bob, who was the most skilled with technology.

"Do you think you could track that?"

"Well, I could have been able to track it before you smashed it," he deadpanned and she yelled in frustration. Before she could smash anything else, Sebastien put a hand on her shoulder.

"Come on, Amelia. Let's go back to New Jersey. We need to regroup with everyone," he suggested and she nodded.

"What should we do with the head?" Jeff asked.

"Let's send it back to Australia, so that it can be properly buried," Amelia said and he nodded.

They literally shipped the vampire's severed head back to Australia, with a note explaining the situation and requesting that it be properly buried.

Then Bob recited a transportation spell, which sent them all back to Jersey.


	35. When The Sun Goes Down 7

AJ slowly woke up, realizing she damn well wasn't in California anymore. To make things worse, the four vampires from before were still there, watching her.

"Hey sweetie, glad to see you're awake! Hope the trip wasn't too rough on you…" Carden said smiling, and for a minute AJ almost thought he was trying to be like Beckett after she'd fallen 'in love' with him.  
>Her only response was to curl her lip and growl, trying to find a way out.<p>

"I wouldn't struggle if I were you. You're not going anywhere anytime soon. Your friends are playing this little game, you see, and you're the prize." Brendon said, sarcastic glee seeping in every word.

"Pr-Prize?"

"William wants revenge. And what better way to go about obtaining it then to start with the one that caused his downfall?"

"I did nothing of the sort!" she protested, though her eyes widened as she realized he had a point.

"Oh, but you did. By go out hunting that night, you brought back that demon…your old friend, although you didn't recognize her that moment. But you came to eventually, and the beginning of the end had began. But back to my point, your friends have 36 hours to find you. If they don't….well, dear, you die."

"Ha. Amelia will find me, I'm sure of it. And besides…where I am, some old penitentiary or boarding school in Cali? Piece of cake," AJ gloated, not catching the smirk on the vampire's faces.

"We're not in the states, mutt." Ryan added.

"Well then where are we?"

"Ireland. The Emerald Isle. Hell, if you want, most natives call it 'Eire'…either way it's a long way from where we were." Jon supplied, aimlessly walking back and forth, restless due to his age.

"Ireland? Why not China? Australia? Then I could've seen Keith Urban again! Oh, he does an amazing live show…" AJ wondered, momentarily trying to remember why she was there in the first place.

"Well, we were thinking Shanghai, but that would make it too easy for your friend."

"And why's that?"

"Stupid mutt, didn't you ever think of where the term 'shanghai-ing' came from?"

"Well...you don't need to be so mean about it...and oh, I'm a history buff too, wanna hear? World war one started in 1914 with the assassination of-"

At the moment Carden grabbed the small role of duck tape they'd managed to find, and ripped a section off, placing it over AJ's mouth.

Brendon rolled his eyes, "How long you think that'll shut her up for?"

"Hopefully, long enough."

The two could still hear the hybrid's muffled voice, still trying to annoy them.

"Should I just bite her again? It's practically free food," Carden joked.

"I suppose you could, but when William gets here I don't want him getting mad and us because we didn't save the bait."

"Good enough for me. Just make sure she doesn't go unconscious again…I'll never hear the end of it."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(Back in Jersey)  
>"Amelia! What'd you guys find? Where's Adeline?" Ray asked, calling for the others the moment he saw Bob and the group arrive.<p>

"Well…long story. We'd better all go sit down."

After Ray and the group went back into the house, Amelia sat down in between Gerard and Mikey.

"Well…I got into our apartment, and mostly everything was clean, until we got to my room…We scattered Chislett's ashes and then I went into the bathroom and found a note. It told me to turn on my TV, I did and-and…"

"Brendon and Carden have AJ. They're playing this sick game…we have 36 hours to find her or she dies." Bob finished for Amelia, who still was both too shocked and angry that they were using AJ as a pawn to speak.

"They wouldn't kill her…she's part lycan, she could easily kill them before they touch her…"

"Yeah and we all thought her and Chislett would be fine…look what happened to him." Mikey deadpanned.

"Could you figure out where they took her?" Gerard asked.

"Well…Bob would've been able to track in had I not thrown a knife at the screen…"

"I meant clues."

"Brendon said where they were it was the next day already, so it's somewhere across the Atlantic. Knowing them, they wouldn't take her somewhere obvious…Shanghai's a hell no, the concept's too obvious. Might have been Australia, but I'd think killing Chislett would be enough to torture her."

"What other places do you think they'd travel to? I'd think it'd be high class, after all this is the Dandies we're talking about." Frank added, making a decent point.

The group sat in contemplative quiet for the next few hours, making lists of places the hybrid could be being held. As they crossed them out, Amelia had a lightbulb moment.

"Oh! I'm such an idiot! High class? Around the world? What's classier than a castle in the highlands?"

"Highlands? You mean like Scotland?" Seb wondered.

"Well, it's either there or…IRELAND! AJ always said she'd wanted to go there…It makes now how if they took her that's where they'd go…somewhere she's dreamed of, but wouldn't be able to enjoy it."

"Great…now we only have 36 hours to find her. Which castle in Ireland?" Mikey asked, eager to find AJ so he could find Carden, and in doing so, rip his throat out, yet again.

"That's the problem…Ireland only has over 100 of them…"

"Lovely. Just lovely."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AJ remembered being untied, and then locked into a bedroom. It was furnished nicely, old paintings still hanging on the walls and an antique mirror sitting on the dresser. The bed even had sheets and fluffy pillows!

"Why are you being so nice to me? I thought you guys were-"

"It's your last day alive…it's the thing to do. Keep you comfortable, you know? And besides, wait until you figure out who your special guest is…" Carden said, smiling as he poked his head in the door, throwing her a bag of blood, which she opened graciously and drank, although she didn't really like it.  
>"Who's that?"<p>

"You'll just have to wait and see… " he trailed off, she could hear Brendon laughing in the other room, "Revenge is bittersweet, isn't it?"

"That it is. So…I'd enjoy what time you have left…the clock's ticking." He said ominously, waiting for any sign of fear from the girl. Instead, all he could sense was anticipation.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Amelia, Seb, Mikey, Frank, Jeff and David managed to find decent airfare to Ireland while the others decided to stay back in Jersey to keep a handle on the situation and keep watch for anything else going on.

"Wow….never thought I'd be coming here without her….at least, not in a live or die sense," Amelia mused as she looked out the window on the flight out.

"It is a beautiful country though. Manage to think of any castles we could check out?" David asked, flipping through a People magazine.

"Well…I've been going through Wikipedia looking for castles that are still in use today, something our Dandies would like living in, and found enough to keep us busy. In Cork there's Barryscourt, Blackwater, Widenham, Kilbrittain…In Dublin there's Howth, Dunsoghly, Drimnagh, Malahide, Rathfarmham…how are we ever going to find her?"

"Can I see that list?" Jeff asked, and Amelia passed it to him.

"Hm. Well, out of this list, the counties of Kikenny and Meath have two castles that are ideal for our Dandies to live in. What if we checked these first and then split up to cover the larger areas of Dublin, Cork, Galway and Tipperary?"

The others nodded.

"Great. How much time do we have to do all this in?" Amelia asked, feeling the demon growing nervous, although the only thing to be nervous about was AJ's safety.

Frank looked at his phone from his seat beside Amelia, "About 26 hours…just over a day. Hope you guys are up for not sleeping..."

"So….where do we start?"

"Kilkenny? There's a castle named after the county itself. Why don't we start there, it makes it easy." Jeff suggested.

"Alright…we land in half an hour…I'm gonna try to take a nap 'til then. Wake me up when we land, will you?" She asked Mikey, who nodded.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Speaking of sleep, it seemed like the perfect thing for AJ to do. She didn't have much else to do seeing as she was held captive once again, and the time difference from LA only made things worse. Knowing it was only 4 in LA, AJ cringed when she realized it really was bedtime in Ireland, it being midnight where she currently was.

She lay down on the bed and closed her eyes. Here she was, in Ireland, but unable to enjoy the beauty of the country, stuck inside a castle. But wait…this all looked familiar, the room she been in when she'd woke….this wasn't THAT castle, was it? If it was, suddenly being stuck here didn't feel so bad.

Slipping into dreams of the U2 boys recording in these same halls, AJ found herself listening in on the beginnings of 1984's The Unforgettable Fire. She didn't know how much time had passed, but oh, this dream was so real! Had the guitarist just hugged her?

Opening her eyes, AJ was surprised to find actual arms around her.

_'Some drugs they must've slipped me,'_ she mused sleepily, rolling over. She furrowed her brow in confusion at who was facing her, a slight smile on his face. As she went to put a hand to her mouth in shock, Beckett laughed.

"Oh, love….don't shy away. I've missed you."


	36. When The Sun Goes Down 8

AJ immediately slid back on the bed, falling off with a low thud to the floor.

"Y-You're d-dead! I sn-snapped your neck! H-How…" Her eyes widened as Beckett followed her, leaning  
>over the edge of the bed.<p>

"Yeah, about that…there's a little concept called a fake out. Like the magicians…illusions have to be seen to be believed."

"B-But I-I…"

"I won't hurt you this time. I promise. Heard you lost a friend, so you're…" Beckett paused, allowing AJ to relieve the memory from about two days ago, "Lonely."

He smiled at the hurt crossing her face; his words had hit their mark.

"What's it to you?"

"Now, no need to be so defensive…I'm only trying to comfort you," he explained, getting up to where she sat on the floor, picking her up despite her protests and setting her on the bed. Why wasn't she  
>fighting back? Was it possible she remembered?<p>

"It's your last day alive…you want someone with you, don't you?"

"I…" she blinked as he set a finger against her lips, and then leaned in and kissed her neck, right where he'd turned her. Immediately memories came flooding back; and in turn the dark feelings – denial, sadness, loneliness. She knew she couldn't let herself be controlled again, but still she…was it wrong if she played into his game? If Amelia couldn't make it to her in time, she would die…and when people are about to die they often make stupid decisions.

Beckett looked at her, "If every female had your mindset, there'd be more vampires then humans in the world. Your loneliness has blinded you, and now you miss-" One of his hands caressed her cheek, involuntarily sending a shudder through her, causing her to bit her lip. "Simple actions like this."

His hand didn't move, but his pinkie drifted over her lips, making them tingle. Her entire body twitched at the shiver seemingly 'stuck' in her spine, but as she looked into Beckett's brown eyes she knew what she'd decided.

_'I'm sorry…Lucian, Amelia….I'm sorry.'_

And as if Beckett had read her mind, he smiled, his hand moving across her body, reaching for the straps of her tank top. Absentmindedly she returned his smile, blinking as he leaned down to kiss her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I swear to god, if this is another, 'Sorry Mario, the princess is in another castle' scene, I'm going to kill you, Jeff." Frank said semi-joking as the six headed towards Slane Castle, in county Meath.

"She's got to be in this one! It's Slane Castle, and seeing as we only have an hour to find her after switching the plans by going to Dublin and checking out all of those castles first, she better be here."

"Guys, calm down…I SEE THE CASTLE!" Amelia yelled, taking off at a run toward the large stone structure.

Sebastien sighed.

"And she tells us to calm down while she goes running off like a five year old to sit on Santa's lap."

Jeff and David looked at him, the three shaking their heads, a shared laugh between them.

"Girls."

Suddenly, Mikey's phone rang. As he answered it, he yelled at Seb, "Seb! Go grab Mimi before she does something stupid!"

Seb sprinted off after the excited demon and Mikey answered his phone.

"Hello?"

"Mikey? It's Bob," came the voice on the other end.

"Hey Bob, what's up?"

"Have you guys found the castle yet?"

"Yeah, I think we have. Why? What's going on?" Mikey asked as he walked away from the group so he could hear Bob over Amelia's shouting.

Bob was quiet, and for a second, Mikey almost thought that call was dropped.

"Just...be careful, man. Be careful," Bob said at last, and Mikey could hear a significant amount of fear and trepidation in the wizard's voice.

"I will."

"I mean it. Watch out for the one named Jon Walker. He's...he's a beast, man. If you aren't careful, he'll completely turn you against your friends. You won't even know what happened until it's too late."

"Thanks for the advice, Bob, but why are you telling me this now?" Mikey asked, growing worried.

Bob was the rock. He was like the glue that held everything together. To hear such worry in his normally stoic demeanor was unsettling for Mikey.

"I don't want you to make the same mistake I did, when dealing with Jon Walker."

"What happened?"

"He made me kill my wife, Laura," Bob said and Mikey stopped.

He didn't know that Bob used to be married.

"He manipulated my emotions, turned it into pure rage. I couldn't help it. Before I knew what had happened, Laura was dead. I used an Unforgivable Curse on her. Mikey, if you do one thing, promise me you'll be careful when you go up against Jon Walker. Please," Bob pleaded and his voice cracked with emotion.

Mikey swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat and took a deep breath.

"I promise, man. I'll be careful."

"Thanks, Mikey. Call us before you come home."

"I will," Mikey said as he hung up.

"What was that about?" Jeff asked as Mikey went to rejoin the group.

"Bob just wanted to wish us good luck," Mikey replied, not wanting to scare everyone with what Bob had actually told him.

"Hm…" AJ sighed contentedly as Beckett rested his forehead against hers, both breathing heavily. He searched her hazel eyes for any sign of discomfort, but all he saw was the hybrid's lust dissipating.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing….I just…" he could tell she was struggling for words, and the thought of her confused made him smile.

"Missed being wrapped in your arms, that's all." She concluded, lifting her head to kiss his chest. Sure, after five years you'd think she would have moved on, forgot what he'd done to her, how she'd been used. But that memory, like his venom in her bloodstream, never truly faded.

"I'd imagine so…so tell me, how were Brendon and Mike treating you before my arrival?"

"Uh…Mike kept calling me a mutt…I'm not a mutt, though. Am I?" She asked innocently, one hand reaching up to run through his hair.

AJ noticed it was shorter, and she thought he looked more…of the era. Younger was the easier way to put it, because instead of being born in 1712 like she knew was, it looked like he'd been but a twenty-something in the 1950's or 60's.

Beckett smiled, revealing his fangs, tips stained from her blood, "No, my love. You'll never be a mutt in my eyes…"

She paused, tilting her head, "Wait…I don't…I'm not under your control again am I? I don't think I love you…"

He laughed, "No, you're not…I just remember you as such, I suppose. But you can't deny yourself that you like how I'm addressing you."

She nodded, "It's nice, I just wish Michael was still al-…It was you! You're the one that put Brendon and Carden up to killing him!" She yelled, realization washing over her. Why hadn't she realized that in the first place?

Beckett's smile turned to a smirk as his grip tightened around her.

"How long did that take you to figure that out? It's a shame he had to die, but darling, I need my revenge. It's why I'm here actually. See, Mike wants to be the one to kill you; he doesn't realize I know that he resents me for siring you. I know he thinks it should have been him. That's where I come in. Instead of killing you right when those hours are up, I'm going to wait until your little 'rescue party' arrives, and make them watch." He explained.

AJ gulped. That was the last thing she needed.

"But don't worry," Beckett soothed, kissing her nose, "We've still got all morning to be together. Mike and the boys have been told not to attack should your friends arrive. We'll wait, until they see us together, and then…well, I trust you know your death is imminent?"

AJ wasn't listening, she was praying Amelia would find her and get her the hell out of Dodge. She'd play his little game, but the minute Amelia found her, it was time for action.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Amelia, Seb, David, Jeff, Mikey and Frank approached the great wooden doors to the castle, surprised to find them already open. Suddenly it hit Amelia why this castle was so important.

U2 had played here in 2001, filming a concert, partly because the land surrounding the castle created a natural amphitheater.

The group walked inside, surprised that Brendon, Carden and the others weren't nearby. Were they sleeping? What got to her and startled her, was that she could hear voices from the kitchen.

"Did you know U2 played here a few years ago?" It sounded like AJ.

"Really? That must have been quite the concert to attend."

There was no way Amelia could mistake that voice. She walked slowly, trying to hear the rest of their conversation.

"Do you think this whole blood pudding will work? I don't think it'll thicken since I haven't added anything to-"

"Well, if it doesn't, there's always these." Amelia's eyes widened as she saw the blood bag being held in the air, Beckett was holding it above his head.

She moved closer, not expecting what she saw. Beckett was smiling, did this mean AJ was under his control again?

AJ leaned back against him and reached for the bag, one of his arms around her waist.

"William! Give me that, I'm thir-"

"Adeline Jeanette, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Amelia yelled, finally exposing herself, Seb and the others behind her.

"Oh? Uh…." AJ's face got even paler as she realized how bad the situation looked. "H-hi Rae!" 


	37. When The Sun Goes Down 9

Amelia let out a curse in Spanish as she glared at AJ.

"My, you certainly do have a mouth on you. Wonder what else it's good for?" William asked as he winked at her.

"Can someone say pedophile?" Frank muttered under his breath, but William caught it.

"Oh, and what do we have here? It's the eighth dwarf, on break from the mines. Shouldn't you be high-ho-ing your way back, little one?" Beckett sneered.

"I'm sorry, did you say something, your highness? It was difficult to hear you with your head so far up your ass," Frank retorted hotly as he stepped towards Beckett, his hands ablaze with fire.

At the last second, Mikey put his hand on Frank's shoulder. Frank, though he was angry, respected Mikey enough to stop.

"Cut the shit talking, Beckett. We've found Adeline within the time limit. Now it's your turn to hold up your end of the deal," Mikey growled.

"But what's the fun in that? If this is the end, I want to go out with a bang!" Beckett exclaimed as he grabbed AJ and held a knife to her throat.

Everyone immediately went on the defensive and not a moment too soon.

Mikey barely had time to duck as a fist came into his field of vision. Crouching low, he pushed off from the ground and tackled the body that had appeared in front of him. Not surprisingly, it was Mike Carden, who just grinned at Mikey.

"What's wrong, mutt? Cat got your tongue?" he asked as he flipped Mikey off of him and pinned him to the ground.

Meanwhile, Brendon and the three new vampires had come out of nowhere and were fighting the remaining five.

Frank, despite being four inches shorter than Brendon, moved with lightning fast speed. He was able to scorch his clothes and was delighted when he managed to connect with Brendon's cold flesh.

Sebastien immediately phased and went for William. Though he knew that he was supposed to try and kill Beckett without harming Adeline, all that mattered now was revenge. He swiped and bit at the Dandies' leader, who dodged them all with a certain fluidity that only caused to annoy him more.

Jeff and David took on the three new vampires, with Amelia backing them up. David was a pretty good Airbender, who launched razor sharp currents of air at the three vampires, who weren't nearly fast enough to avoid them. Jeff, being an oni like Ray, unclipped his power bracelet and tackled one of the younger vampires. Poor guy didn't even know what hit him, literally. Jeff heard some of the vampire's bones break, and was satisfied.

Amelia was having a staredown with the vampire named Jon Walker. He taunted her, trying to get her to make the first move. Amelia though, was no dummy. She knew what he was doing, and waited for him to make the first move.

Things were not moving fast enough for Jon Walker, who only smiled at Amelia as he began to work his magic.

As Amelia watched him with eyes like a hawk, she felt herself becoming more and more agitated. It spread throughout her entire body like wildfire. Soon, it was all consuming, emanating from every pore.

Then, she snapped.

She could feel the demon growing restless, and eventually, her body began to change. Normally, Amelia could will herself into shifting into the demon's form, but this time, she had no control. She fell to the ground, screaming with the pain of the possession.

_"My lady, what's going on? Why are you doing this!" she screamed inside her head._

_"Child, it is not my doing. It is the will of the vampire over there. There isn't anything I can do to stop it," the demon replied._

The moment that Mikey heard Amelia scream, he stopped, which allowed Carden to get in a nice right hook to the face. As Mikey stumbled backwards from the impact of the blow, he immediately looked over at her. She was writhing on the ground and Mikey could sense a large amount of energy coming from her. She was going to transform into the demon.

He looked at who she was fighting, and suddenly, Bob's warning clicked into place.

_"He manipulated my emotions, turned it into pure rage. Mikey, if you do one thing, promise me you'll be careful when you go up against Jon Walker."_

At once, Mikey knew what was going on. Jon was manipulating her emotions so that all she felt was anger and hatred, forcing the demon to take control. Mikey turned and ran at Jon. He tackled him to the ground, enough to break his concentration.

Amelia stopped moving, and for a moment, Mikey wasn't sure what had happened. Then she slowly sat up and he let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding in and sighed in relief. Then he remembered the vampire under him and gave him a nice punch in the face, glad when he heard bones break.

He ran over to Amelia and helped her up. She didn't look too good. Her eyes were unfocused and she felt weak in his arms. Just as her legs gave out, he heard William yell, "Well, gentlemen and demoness, it's been fun, but I'm afraid we must go."

He said something else, but it was drowned out by the sound of a huge explosion. Suddenly, small bits of rock began to fall as the castle crumbled all around them. Mikey looked at the others, who had stopped fighting and instead began to look for an exit. The six of them ran out of the castle, barely making it out before the whole structure tumbled down.

The explosion echoed throughout the entire county as a cloud of debris came rushing at them. Mikey covered Amelia with his body as David blasted a hole in the middle of the cloud with an impressive display of Airbending. As the smoke cleared, they made sure that everyone was okay.

It looked like everything was fine, until they heard a voice say from above them, "Mikey Way, Amelia Clearwater, Sebastien Lefebvre, David Desrosiers, Frank Iero, and Jean-Francois Stinco, you are all under arrest for the destruction of the Slane Castle here in County Meathe, Ireland. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say or do will be taken down and used as evidence."

The six of them were handcuffed and thrown into a paddywagon and taken away to the local jail. After being fingerprinted and having all of their weapons confiscated, they were placed in a large holding cell where they were waiting for their sentences.

"Great, so the Dandies escaped with AJ and now we're sitting here in jail!" Amelia grumbled.

The others nodded in agreement.

They sat in the cell for almost an hour before a warden came by and announced that they were being let go. As they walked out of the cell, they wondered what had happened.

"Amelia Raven Clearwater, you never cease to amaze me. I swear, it's people like you that keep me young at heart," said a voice with a thick Irish accent as a man with curly black hair walked into the hallway.

"Mitchell!" she shouted as she ran at the man and hugged him.

"Guys, this is John Mitchell. He's a friend of George and Nina's. How did you know where to find us?" she asked.

"Well, I came back to Ireland for a bit of business, and good thing I did. George called me up the other day babbling about being kidnapped by some vampires and saying they had an interest in you. Well, you know how George gets all excited. He kept saying, "They're going to Ireland! They're going to Ireland!", so naturally I came back too. When I heard that a demon, two werewolves, two vampires and an oni were arrested for blowing up a castle, I knew I should come and help," he explained.

"How did you get them to let us out? Are you a diplomat or something?" David asked.

Mitchell laughed. "No, not really. People just kind of respect me here. Plus, the warden owed me a favor."

He helped the six of them get their weapons back and escorted them to the airport. He bade them farewell before they all boarded a plane back to Jersey.

"Well, looks like we're back at square one. The Dandies still have Adeline, and now we lost track of them. Just freaking lovely," Frank complained as he curled up in his chair and went to sleep.

_"Don't worry, AJ, we'll find you," Amelia thought as she too, drifted off to sleep._

* * *

><p>"Seriously?! All that trouble….destroying a castle that's got a special meaning to me and then you don't even go through with your pro-" AJ complained, before William cut her off.<p>

"I'm not the one that destroyed Slane. Thank your friends for that. And about not going through with it…I…"

AJ's eyes widened. Was he actually unsure of what to say?

"I can't. There's a little known ramification that often complicates most vampire wars, the cardinal rule being a vampire cannot directly kill one that he has sired. I mean, history shows that in order for power to be handed down, rivals must kill each other. A vampire could not kill his mate and expect to be seen as the alpha."

"So…what does that mean for me?" AJ asked, confused as the pair walked along the Irish country side, having stayed in Ireland after Amelia and the group had been arrested, although AJ didn't know they'd been released.

"In short…I can't kill you. I can harm you to the best of my ability, but I'll never been able to deliver a deathblow."

"Oh…guess my hunch was right…" she mumbled.

"A hunch?"

"Well…it's sort of a long theory that I have, but…hear me out?"

"Why not. So…do tell, this theory of yours…"

"Alright…well, this kind of all started the first time you guys captured us. I thought there was something about Michael, he didn't seem as….bad as the rest of you…and I was right, and he eventually turned on you. And…I know you said you wanted us dead, but I think you could have killed me when I came back to the mansion with you…but you didn't. Why is that? Here's where the theory comes in…I think that because you didn't kill me when you had the chance, and now you just said you can't…I don't think you ever wanted to. Maybe you're not as bad as people say…or maybe it's because I remind you of someone and you don't want to let the memory go…" she concluded, watching for any reaction.

To her surprise, the vampire bowed his head and sighed.

"For a hybrid of only twenty-three, you know more than you should…that theory is rather entertaining, but I feel as though you're suggesting I still have a heart…"

"Hey…" she started. William looked as AJ turned and stopped walking, stopping right in front of him. Her eyes looked over him, and then she stepped forward and set her hand over where his heart was, although it wasn't beating anymore.

"You do…I believe that. I can't be the only one to have stated this…" she reasoned, her other hand reaching up to fix his bangs.

William blinked, and for a second she thought she saw a glimmer of sadness in his eyes.

"You weren't. For a long time, I'd had someone else…just like you, in fact. I think that's the reason I turned you, I knew it would keep me from killing you, unlike what it did to her…"

"Her?" AJ asked gently, knowing this conversation was probably leading a secret of the vampire's past.

William sat down, the rolling hills of the countryside lush and green, perfect for a picnic if one ever had the time. AJ followed, admittedly curiosity had overtaken her and she wanted to know who this 'her' was that he had brought up.

"You promise to never breathe a word of this conversation? Not even to my men?"

"Geall. French isn't the only language I speak now…'geall' is Gaelic for promise. And incidentally,"

"Gaelic is the language of this land." William finished for her, turning toward her, expecting the look in her eyes he was getting.

"Póg me?" She smiled as she looked at his lips, and then ever-so-slightly batted her eyelashes.

William didn't need to think about what that meant, he instinctively knew that was 'kiss'. He leaned in and brushed his lips lightly against hers, for the first time in a long while thinking about Christine.

"It was the early 1900's, just after World War One. America was blossoming, reaping the benefits of a country after wartime. I had come back from a business trip, and it was in 1920 when I met who I believed was the most beautiful girl in all of Illinois. I had been living in Chicago, and one night I'd decided to go out, look for a snack. One of the bars I stopped in, I stayed for a drink. There was a girl there, a little younger then you, with blonde hair and hazel eyes. I asked if I could buy her a drink, which she accepted. We started talking, and by the end of the night she'd accompanied me back to my apartment. You probably know how all these sort of stories go, the two people fall in love and live happily ever after. My case however, isn't quite that sweet. I never told Christine of my afflictions, she was all too blinded by the quiet nights alone to see what I really was. By when the time came that I wanted to ask for her hand, she had bargained her own deal."

"Deal? What's better then getting married?"

"That's just what it was about Christine though. The night before I was to propose, she…well, let's simply say the night wasn't quite."

"Meaning you and her ha-"

"Yes. Part of me knew that wasn't right, knew I should have changed her before. It's like I told you, with the bloodlust, the frenzy…normal feedings are hard to stop if you're a newborn vampire, and it gets even harder when love and hormones are involved. Imagine when I saw her the next morning, among the tangled sheets, the familiar marks on her neck sporting dried blood…but when I went to woke her, she didn't move. Didn't blink, and I still remember how I felt when I discovered she wasn't breathing. That memory will never leave my mind. I had thought I loved her, and yet I had killed her and I hadn't been aware of it."

"That's terrible! So why did…oh…oh…I'm sorry, that's really…"

"It is the past. But yes, part of your theory is correct. The part about you reminding me of someone…truth is, minus the red highlights, you're the spitting image of Christine."

"Oh…William, I didn't kn-"

And before she could finish her sentence, William had kissed her, knocking her onto her back. She could sense more regret behind it then anything, but it wasn't rough. As he pulled away, she smiled.

"So if you can't kill me….where to?"

"Well….your friends are still looking for you…and well…putting this lightly, I don't ever want to let you go.

So…I've already lead them half way around the world, we both know this chase has to end somewhere …"

"We could…uh…pending it's just you and me, go back to my apartment…wait, no, Amelia shares it…that won't…and we can't go back to Chicago because Patrick controls the city now….hm….where else?"

"We could just stay here, love. This country is beautiful. And there are other castles…"

"True…do you still have your phone? I…uh…I want to call Amelia so I can, er, lay the bait…"

"That's fine…if you want to explain your theory, do that too."

"Cool. Thanks." As William handed AJ his phone, she smiled, walking further down the hill to call Amelia.

_"Hello?"_

"Hey…Rae…I…I have this theory. Just hear me out."

_"What? And where the hell are you? Are you okay?"_

"Yeah, I'm fine…but…it's about William….er, Beckett."

_"Yeah, what's with you switching what you call him? And what's your theory?"_

AJ took a deep breath before continuing; hoping that what she said wouldn't make the demon want to kill her.

"I don't think he's as bad as everyone says. He's..." AJ looked around to see if he was within earshot, and, seeing nothing, explained, "He's lost someone before...a girl, they were supposed to get engaged and then he killed her, drained her dry. Still hasn't gotten over it, that's why I think he's so closed off and cold. But I remind him of her...he turned me because apparently vampires can't kill who they sire...I'm safe with him that way."

"_Wait...what? I didn't really catch any of that. You're talking so fast..."_

"He can't kill me, Rae. Some vampire cardinal rule forbids it. He's capable of emotion, it just...takes time to be seen. I mean...five years ago, that battle? He broke my ankle and held me in a headlock, but I noticed he couldn't bring himself to snap my neck...and then, before you guys found us in the castle, I was stuck in this bedroom, right? Well...he showed up. Didn't allow Carden or any of the others near me. I think I actually slept peacefully...I mean, after-"

_"I don't give a flying fuck if he let you sleep well! If Lucian finds out you did that, you're going to die!" _Amelia exclaimed, slightly horrified that AJ's actions had all the signs that she was under Beckett's control again.

"I know...but...William...there's just something about him...and oh, he wants me to-" at the moment the phone was snatched from her hand as William grabbed it, putting a finger to his lips, signaling her to be quiet.

"Hello Amelia...I see Adeline's had quite the conversation with you. And being the castle was destroyed in the midst of our little show, I'll give you one more chance to find her. This time it won't be any easier, though. Oh, if you're heading back to New Jersey, do say hello to Gerard for me, and invite him to come along. The more the merrier!"


	38. When The Sun Goes Down 10

Completely awake now on the plane, Amelia balled her free hand into a fist, "Fine...now let me talk to A-"

She heard AJ's giggle, made to sound like she was a little kid. And then, as if this was supposed to creep her out, AJ sang,

_"Tick tock goes the clock, and all the years they fly. Tick tock and all too soon, you and I must die."_

Normally this would have creeped Amelia out, but she knew better that AJ was only quoting a nursery rhyme from Doctor Who.

"AJ, I'm finding you and I'm not going to hesitate to kill Beck-"

She noticed the line had gone silent. So much for getting any information on the location...

The next thing Amelia knew, Mikey was shaking her awake.

"Come on, Mimi, we're back."

She got off the plane and grabbed her stuff from the concourse. The drive back to the house was silent.

When they got back to the house, Amelia went to her room and slammed the door. Mikey and the others went and sat in the living room, where Gerard, Ray, Chuck, Pierre, and Bob were waiting.

"Well?" Gerard asked once they all got situated.

"Well, we found AJ, eventually. They were in Slane Castle in County Mead, Ireland. And Beckett's definitely alive. I saw him with my own eyes, and Sebastien fought him," Mikey began.

"Where's AJ?" Ray asked.

"Well, she's still with Beckett," David explained. "Before we could get her, the castle collapsed and the cops thought we did it. We got arrested."

"You got arrested?" Chuck repeated, shaking his head.

David gave him a cheeky smile. "Yeah, we kind of did. But a friend of Amelia's helped us and got us out of jail."

"Speaking of Amelia, why did she slam her door?" Pierre asked.

Mikey looked right at Bob when he said, "Jon Walker got to her. He manipulated her emotions enough to make her almost transform into the demon."

"I'll go talk to her," he offered and got up.

Bob walked to her room and knocked on the door.

"Amelia? It's Bob. Can I come in?" he asked.

"Sure," came a small voice from inside.

He opened the door, walked in, and closed it behind him. Amelia was sitting on her bed, staring out the window. Bob pulled up a chair from the desk and sat down. He knew better than to approach Amelia right now. She was in a fragile state. For a while, Bob didn't do anything. He just sat down and watched Amelia as she sat on the edge of her bed, her chest rising and falling with each breath.

"Do you know what it feels like, Bob? To have no control over your emotions or your actions? To feel completely vulnerable like that?" Amelia asked quietly, at last.

"Yes, I do. I know exactly how that feels. Jon's done that to me before. It doesn't feel too good," Bob agreed.

"After he did that, is it normal to feel so numb? So violated? I could have killed someone."

"At least you didn't actually kill someone. I did," Bob said and Amelia finally turned around to look at him.

"What?"

"Jon Walker made me kill my wife, Laura. It was almost 80 years ago."

"What happened?"

"Well, we had just gotten back from our honeymoon. At that time, Jon was a good friend of mine. He had let us stay in a lake house he owned out in California and he had come over that afternoon to help us unpack. What I didn't know though, was that he was secretly in love with my wife. I didn't find out about that until much later. Anyway, that night, before we went to bed, I just started getting angry. I didn't know why, but I kept getting angrier and angrier. Two or three days after we came home, I reached my breaking point. Jon had come over to check on us, and I was just screaming and yelling at Laura. Poor Laura, she didn't deserve it at all. I...I was so mean to her...so horrible," Bob explained, his voice trailing off.

"What happened next?"

"Well, this anger that I had, it just kept building and I had no idea where it came from. I mean, Laura, she just kept crying and yelling at me to stop. I was pretty scared that I was going to do something stupid, so I kept telling Jon, 'Jon man, I gotta get out of here. Take me away from here.' and all he kept saying was 'We all have to face our demons some day, Robert.' I had no idea what it meant. Well, then, I started getting violent. I smashed things, I used as many spells as I knew. Laura was a cursebreaker, so she could easily avoid my spells. Then, I snapped. All of the sudden, it was like I was momentarily blinded. I couldn't see anything, except this red color and a voice that told me to give into my anger. Well, I did, and I used an Unforgivable Curse. I used _Avada Kedavra_ on her. The Killing Curse. When I finally regained my sense of self, Jon was gone, and she was dead. I'll never forget that feeling," he said, his voice thick with emotion as tears began to fall down his cheeks.

Amelia, not knowing what else to do, hugged Bob and said, "Don't worry, Bob. We'll kill them. I swear."

* * *

><p>The next few days were actually normal. Amelia had come out of her room and was even joking around with the other guys. For a moment, she almost forgot that they were all in serious danger with Beckett at large. Almost a week after the incident in Ireland, Gerard asked Amelia to get the mail for him. She obliged and got the mail.<p>

Most of the mail was bills and stuff, but something bright caught her eye. It was a postcard. On the front, it had an immaculate white house. There was no return address on the back, and it was only addressed to Amelia. In a neat and fancy script, someone had written, "In the end, we all return to our roots."

"Hey Mimi, what'cha got there?" David asked when she walked in the room and handed the mail to Gerard.

"I dunno, it's a postcard from somewhere. Wonder who it's from?"

"Is there a return address?" Chuck asked as Mikey grabbed the postcard from her hand and sniffed it.

Amelia shook her head. "Nope. It's only addressed to me, and it just says 'In the end, we all return to our roots.' Mikey, why did you just smell it?"

He shrugged. "I wanted to see if I could track a scent. There was nothing."

"Do you think it could be from Beckett?" Ray thought out loud.

"Could be. Let's do some research," Frank suggested.

Amelia grabbed her laptop, as did Mikey. Sebastien, David, Chuck, and Ray went to the local library to use their computers.

Gerard, Frank, Pierre, Jeff, and Bob gathered around the two with the computers.

"So, how should we go about this? It's not like we can just type in 'big white house' to Google and expect to get a good answer," Mikey stated.

"Well, most of you guys are pretty old, no offense. Do you recognize the architecture at all?" Amelia asked as she opened up a Youtube page. She put on some music and went back to Google as the guys stared at the postcard.

"Hey Mimi, what are we listening to?" Pierre asked as they inspected the postcard.

"Oh, it's called 'Roots Bloody Roots' by Sepultura," she replied as she typed some stuff into Google.

"So if Beckett sent this, what do you think it could mean? I mean, trees have roots. Trees are symbolic of power, so maybe he went somewhere with a lot of trees?" Ray asked, trying to come up with an idea.

"Maybe, but that seems too easy for Beckett. What if he -" Gerard started to say before Amelia cut him off.

"Wait! I got it!"

"What do you mean?" Mikey asked.

"Well, I was listening to the song, and in 'Roots Bloody Roots', Max Cavalera says "I'll take you to a place where we can find our roots bloody roots". What if Beckett took AJ to his roots? Where he originally came from? That would make sense as to why the postcard says that we all return to our roots in the end," Amelia hypothesized.

Everyone looked at one another and sort of nodded in agreement. It was better than anything else they'd thought of so far.

Amelia grabbed her phone and called Seb.

"Hey Seb, it's Mimi. Listen, can you do some research and try and uncover where Beckett is originally from? We think he took AJ back to his roots and so we need to find out where he came from. Think you can do that? You can? Great, call us if you find anything," Amelia said and hung up.

"You guys keep researching. Look for anything that include William Beckett or where he came from. I'm going to make a phone call," Amelia said as she got up.

She walked into the kitchen and walked out onto the back porch. She flipped open her phone and called Patrick. He picked up after two rings.

"Hello?"

"Hey Patrick, it's Amelia."

"Hey Amelia, how's it going?"

"Not too good, Patrick. We've got a situation here in Jersey. It turns out that William Beckett never died when we killed him last year. And now he's gone and kidnapped AJ." Amelia said in one breath and Patrick choked on whatever he must have been eating.

"Jeeze, Amelia, way to just drop the bomb on me. That doesn't surprise me, though. I've been hearing rumors of that for years. Anyway, where is he now?"

"Well, we don't know. He took AJ and just recently sent us a postcard that leads us to believe he might be going back to his original homeland, wherever that is. I was calling because I hoped you had some inkling of an idea as to where he's from."

Patrick was silent for a moment as he thought. "Well, I don't know anything personally, but I have some associates who might know some stuff. Let me ask around and I'll get back to you in a few days, okay?"

"Sounds great, Patrick, thanks."

Amelia closed her phone and went back inside.

"Anything?" she asked, and the guys all shook their heads.

"Well, we'll just have to keep looking. Patrick said that he didn't know anything, but he'd talk to some people and let me know," Amelia said as she sat down at her computer.

Three hours later, Seb returned with the others.

"Did you find anything?" Frank asked.

"Nope, not a damn thing. There were little blurbs on Beckett here and there, but nothing significant. He hardly has a paper trail," Seb reported as he flopped down onto the couch next to Mikey.

"We checked and cross-checked everything. It's like he's a goddamned ghost!" Chuck fumed.

"Well, if it makes you feel better, we didn't find anything, either. Amelia called Patrick and he said he'd look into it, but I doubt he's going to find anything. Is there anyone else who would possibly know anything about him?" Gerard questioned.

"Gabe Saporta would have been our best bet, but we killed him. Who else do we know that was close to him?" Amelia asked as her cellphone rang.

"Hello, Amelia? It's Patrick. I have some good news. One of my associates has agreed to talk to you. How soon can you guys make it out to Milwaukee?"

********************************************************************************************************  
>The next night, Mikey, Amelia, Sebastien, Chuck, and Bob were on a flight from Jersey to Milwaukee. They collected their things from the concourse and walked outside. The spring rain fell around them, and Chuck used his waterbending to deflect the water.<p>

"Do you have the address?" Mikey asked Amelia.

"Of course I do. It says that he wants to meet in the lobby of the Pfister Hotel," Amelia said as she flagged down a shuttle that was leaving the airport.

The five of them walked onto the bus and told the driver where they wanted to go. 20 minutes later, they stopped in front of the hotel. They thanked the driver and walked into the lobby.

The hotel was immaculate, with lavish Victorian art and a grand staircase in the middle of it. Amelia stared in awe. Who knew that something so beautiful was located in Milwaukee?

"So how do we know who this guy is?" Chuck asked.

"Patrick said that we'd be able to identify him by smell. He said that, according to Pete, he smells like a combination of oil paints, sweat, and woodworking," Amelia said as she looked to Mikey and Sebastien.

The two of them sniffed the air and then walked away from the group. Everyone else followed behind them. They stopped to rest at a large plush chair that was situated in front of a roaring fire.

"Are you our contact from Patrick?" Bob asked.

"I am. Glad to see you showed up," the man said as he stood up and turned around to shake someone's hand.

When he turned around, everyone gasped, and the man himself turned as pale as a sheet. Patrick's contact turned out to be none other than The Butcher, one of William's old men.


	39. When The Sun Goes Down 11

Mikey and Sebastien immediately went on the defensive.

"What? You? You're the informant?" Mikey asked incredulously.

"Well, it makes sense, if you ask me. I mean, he _did_ run off with his tail in between his legs when we fought him five years ago. So, pansy, I see you're in the business of selling secrets now. Why?" Sebastien taunted, baring his teeth.

Amelia smacked Sebastien lightly on the chest.

"Knock it off, you two. We don't need our only source of information to run off on us now. Butcher, I apologize for their behavior. What can you tell us about William's past?" Amelia said, trying to smooth over the situation.

He laughed nervously as he sat down again. Amelia sat in the chair next to him and the guys stood around her.

"I still don't really see why I should tell you. I still resent the fact that you killed my best friend."

"You mean Sisky? We didn't kill him, Chislett did. And, uh, he's dead too, Brendon and Carden killed him." Butcher blinked, confused.

"How could they have killed him? You," he looked at Mikey and Seb, "Killed them. I saw it before I ran off…"

"Uh, well….the entire battle was an illusion created by Mike Carden. They're not dead and now Beckett has kidnapped my best friend and where they went we have no idea. We need to find out so we can save her," Amelia explained.

Butcher laughed, "Huh. So you only want to find out about William's past because you need to save your friend. Wait a minute….is this friend the one we captured five years ago with you? The same one William bit?"

Everyone nodded.

"Oh, okay…..I get it now. Seems she's adjusted well to the Dandie lifestyle. The new house fits them well, now I'm just waiting 'til the save the date…" he replied, smiling at Amelia's shocked expression.

Seb's eyes widened as he turned to her, "She's called him? Maybe Beckett talked her into it…"

"Talked her into it, heh, my ass…but Save-the-dates? There's no way she'd…okay, in retrospect it sounds like her, but…"

"She's just trying to get into your head, make you worry." Mikey threw in.

"So…about Beckett…do you have any idea where he'd be?" she asked.

The tattooed vampire shrugged and grinned, as though he was enjoying leading the group before him on with possible answers.

"Well, it's not the first thing you'd think of. Fact it's probably the last place you'd look."

"Cryptic much?" Chuck stated, receiving nods in agreement.

"But you do know where, right? At least the area or the state?" Bob pressed.

"If I told you now, that would be too easy. I could give you a clue, but…it can't be anything too simple. Mind games are fun, wouldn't you say?"

Sebastien, growing irritated with the Butcher's refusal to comply, took matters into his own hands. He growled and grabbed Butcher by the neck of his shirt. He pulled him close as he whispered, "You'd better tell us right now you motherf*cker, or I swear to God, I'll rip your entrails out and eat them."

"Okay, okay, jeeze. I was just kidding. Well…the locals know there's more to life then death, and have an entire belief system that a wizard like you may appreciate. But just remember, nothing is ever as it seems."

And with that, the Butcher looked over each of the people in front of him and then turned to face the fire.

"Can't you tell us more?" Mikey asked.

"I wish I could, but…honestly, there's not much I know about him. Sisky had more of a bond with him then I did. You'd better be going…the girl doesn't have much time if Brendon and Mike are in the same vincinity."

Amelia nodded; his riddle alone had given them a clue. The trail hadn't gone cold, but it had thinned.

As Bob recited a teleportation spell to send them back to Jersey, the group discussed what had occurred.

"Some help he was. Should've killed him." Mikey grumbled as they walked into the house.

"You guys find anything?" David asked.

"Yeah, trouble." Chuck replied, laughing.

"How so?"

"Well, the guy Patrick set up for us to meet with? It was one of Beckett's old men. He didn't really tell us anything. Well, we got a riddle out of him, but no-one has any idea of what it means."

"What is it?" Gerard asked.

"The locals know there's more to life then death, and have an entire belief system that a wizard like Bob may appreciate, and nothing is ever as it seems." Amelia rattled off.

"Hmm…that doesn't sound too complicated…but almost every place has a different belief system, some of them based on religion, others on other things. 'There's more to life then death'…perhaps there's a local vampire, or a hotspot like the Killjoy Club and the locals are around ghost and the supernatural all the time. 'Nothing is ever as it seems' that's simple enough. That's more of a warning more than anything else," Gerard explained.

"But that still doesn't explain where." Ray said, walking in from the kitchen.

"I know that. It's like a puzzle, we've got to find out where….at least it's not logic."

"They have save the dates." Amelia said suddenly, still shocked that her best friend would even think of something like that, even though she knew it was probably just a ploy to get into her head, drive her insane.

"They what?" Frank just about choked on the water he was drinking.

"Butcher said her and Beckett have save the dates. Everyone knows that means wedding invites…"

"Don't be silly, Mimi, wedding invites? Who would want to marry that poor excuse of a vampire?"

"Oh, if you knew the way AJ thought I think you'd understand. She's got this thing where she falls for-"

"Right…after that battle, didn't she end up flirting with Chislett?"

"Yep. That's what I mean. Even after something like a battle like that happens, she's still looking out for a date. That's the part that scares me about her and Beckett…I can just see this not ending well."

"What, like him killing her?"

"Uh, well….it's kinda complicated. She called me the other day…with this theory. It's sorta out there, but…it makes sense. She said there's this cardinal rule that forbids him for killing her; I guess that it's that a vampire cannot directly intentionally kill someone he has sired."

"There's a catch. You said intentionally. He can still unintentionally kill her."

"Yeah, how's he supposed to do that?"

"Oh…shit. That's what the save the dates are for! They're…some elaborate scheme he's got. I swear, if this turns out like Twilight, I'll kill her myself."

"Why would it be like Twilight? That's such a pathetic vampire story….totally not like reality."

"Well….everyone knows Bella and Edward get married…long story short she ends up pregnant. When she has the baby, she dies. Edward has to turn her, so in turn her having the baby unintentionally causes her death."

"So…where are you going with this?"

"I'm saying if she's trying what I think she is, she's dying. Wait…she's already a vampire hybrid, so I don't think…"

"What?"

"She wouldn't be able to have a child, even if she wanted to. The vampire DNA would make it impossible for her body to change as the baby grows….right?"

"Well…actually," Seb started. "Her lycan side would counteract that, because she's a lycan dominant hybrid, her body could still change, as she must change every month with the full moon despite being a hybrid."

"She wouldn't. AJ...I can't see it. Little kids just bug her, and to think of her having her own? I just can't see it."

"But think about it...her habit of falling hard of her own two feet could be what gets you killed. Who knows if we can trust her anymore?" Mikey brought up.

"She won't do anything stupid."

"Do you realize what you just said? We're talking about the same girl who you caught wrapped up in Beckett's arms. How do you know that she's even still on our side anymore?"

"Because it's already happened once. AJ wouldn't let it..." at that moment, Amelia realized how dangerous dealing with AJ could be. Because if she indeed wasn't still on 'their' side...

"I don't...do I even know her anymore?"

Later that night, though both girls were states apart, they both were busy.

AJ was all about planning for the weeks ahead, should Amelia and the others find her.

"This looks terrible...white's not my color." AJ complained as she twirled in front of the mirror attached to the back of her bedroom door.

The eyelet detailed and lace and ribbon adorned soft cotton nightgown she wore was different then what she was used to, but given the weather, the sleeveless design was perfect.

"It looks fine, Adeline...do quit worrying and lay down, you need to rest. You've had a long day..."

She turned and glared at William, who was laying on the bed, sitting up against the headboard, a lazy grin on his face.

"Fine...but on one condition...Amelia took the bait, I told Butcher to mention save the dates...I'll bet she's freaking out." AJ stated, crawling up onto the bed.

"Save-the-dates? What was that for?"

"Just wanted to mess with her. Make her think we're getting married..." she explained.

"My, you certainly do fit in as a Dandie...messing with people's minds without a thought seems second nature. And you know...we could make them believe it."

"Oh, William...but how?"

"Mike can create another illusion." He reasoned.

"Mean like...I know this is going to sound cheesy, but could I be Bella?"

"Not from that terrible Twilight movie...please say that's not what you mean..."

AJ giggled, "Why is everyone hatin' on Twilight? The movie is better then the book!"

"It's a terrible representation of vampires and the lore associated with us. A vampire falling for a human is unheard of, and it's not tolerated if the matter does arise."

"Oh..." AJ started dejectedly, "But there's a reason I brought it up..."

She refused to look at him instead twirling a lock of hair around her finger. William's arms worked their way around her waist, and then she finally looked at him.

"If we're going to mess with Amelia and Gerard and his men, I want to do it right. We either don't do this wedding illusion, or we give reality the finger and really mess things up. I wanted to have kids when I was younger, but...now that I'm part vampire I don't think I can...and...if Carden's really as good with illusions as I think...my dreams can come somewhat true."

"Wait...what?"

"Can we have Carden create this giant illusion that we got married and then somehow I end up pregnant? I just...that's the one thing I know that will put Amelia over the edge...I mean, if we have enough time, it should work. My lycanthropy would accelerate the pregnancy, and I can totally fake being almost dead again..."

"So...you're saying we make them think, that when they find you, you'll not only my bride by this point, but you're to be a mother as well?"

AJ smiled, absentmindedly reaching up a hand to run it through his hair, "That too much to ask?"

"No...it's just complicated, that's all. I'll talk to Mike in the morning. For now, rest. If this does work and he agrees, we've got a lot of walk ahead of us."

Satisfied, AJ lay down and sighed. Even if this didn't happen, the sheer idea of Amelia's reaction to the illusion made her smile. As she closed her eyes and focused on relaxing her body, William's arms still around her, all traces of worry left her mind.

It didn't matter now if Amelia found her. Either way, she was sure everything would be fine.


	40. When The Sun Goes Down 12

As Amelia lay in bed trying to think of ways she could find out where AJ and Beckett were, she considered consulting the demon. Illshya was far older than Beckett. Perhaps she would know.

"_My lady, you've lived for thousands of years. Do you have any idea as to where Beckett is originally from?" she asked._

_The demon was silent for a moment. "I am not sure, child. Do you know when he was sired?"_

"_Well, he and Gerard are around the same age, though I am sure Gerard is older. Hold on, let me go ask him."_

Amelia got out of bed and walked out into the living room. Mikey was sitting on the couch, still watching TV with Seb and his friends.

"Hey Mikey, do you know where Gerard is?" she asked, poking her head into the living room.

"He's in his office. It's up the stairs and it's the second door on the left," Mikey replied.

"Thanks."

Amelia walked up a small flight of stairs and walked to the second room on the left. She knocked on the door quietly, not wanting to wake up Frank, Ray, or Bob, whose rooms were also upstairs.

"Hey Gee? It's Amelia. Can I come in?" she asked quietly.

The door opened and Gerard ushered her in. He was talking on the phone to someone, so she waited until he was done.

"Hey Mimi, what's up?" he asked, sitting down in his big comfy chair.

"Well, I was laying in bed trying to think of ways to find AJ, and I thought of asking Illshya for help, seeing as she's older than William is. She wanted to know when William was turned, and I didn't know. I just knew that you were older than him. When were you sired?" she asked.

Gerard sat back in his seat and scratched his head. He let out a breath as he tried to remember.

"Wow, it's been a long time since anyone has asked me that. The years just all blend into one after a while. Well, I was born in the late 1600s, back when the life expectancy wasn't very high. Now, I had a little advantage over most people because my parents were had vampire and lycan lineages. That's why I was able to survive until I was about 30. If I was born around 1670, plus 30 years, I was turned by my dad in about 1700," he said, doing some quick math in his head. "Now William is indeed younger than me, but not by much. If I had to venture a guess, I'd say he's only like, 15 years younger than me, no more than that. That would have made him sired in about 1715-ish. Does that help?"

"Yeah, that helps a bit. At least now I have a point of reference. Thanks, Gerard!" Amelia said as she got up and went back to her room. If she wanted to truly talk with the demon, she was going to need to be inside her own head.

She sat down on her bed and began to meditate while reciting words in the ancient demon language. Soon, she could feel her senses slipping away as she retreated into her subconscious. Eventually, she was literally transported into her own mind. When she opened her eyes, she was in a dark corridor that was lit with torches. She had been here before, so she knew that she had just had to keep walking. She felt her way along the wall and eventually came to a large door. She opened the door and went inside. Inside was a small room lined with torches.

"Welcome, child. Please, sit down," the demon said, suddenly appearing in front of her.

Amelia sat on the ground and the demon sat across from her. The demon folded her large wings onto her back and sat cross-legged.

"So according to Gerard, Beckett was sired sometime around 1715," Amelia told Illshya.

She nodded as if to beckon Amelia to continue.

"It's just an estimate, but where were you living at that time, my lady?"

"Well, by that time, I had already been banished by Orion for many centuries. After he forbade any demon from existing in its true form, we had to possess human hosts. I've lived in many places and I know many things. In the 1700s, almost 400 years after making the blood pact with Lucian, I was living in Japan. In that time, I was a Japanese royal maiden, so I would not have even known anything of Beckett's whereabouts. I am sorry, my child," the demon said, lowering her head.

"It's all right. But if you do not know, my lady, who would?"

"I do not know, child."

"What about your brother, Orion? He is the demon of heaven and sky, therefore he would know everything."

The demon immediately turned away from Amelia, as if the mere mention of her brother's name had offended her.

"I do not wish to consult my brother," she spat.

"Oh, come on, my lady. You're acting like a five-year old. He can't be that bad. He, since he's all knowing, might actually know where Beckett is from. He's our only chance," Amelia pleaded.

After a moment of silence, the demon huffed but agreed. "Fine, fine, we can talk to him. But I'm warning you, he's nothing more than an egotistical jerk who let the power go to his head."

Amelia laughed. She never would have guessed there'd have been sibling rivalry between the two demons.

"How can I talk to him?" she asked.

"Well, he lives in the Kingdom of the Sky, and you cannot get there by yourself. You will need me. You will also need to be put into a catatonic state so that my soul will be able to leave the confines of your body in order to travel to the kingdom. Mortals cannot walk in the kingdom, which is why I will have to go. Now, awaken and I shall prepare a list of ingredients which we will need. We will also need someone to put you into the trance, someone like the wizard," the demon explained as she retreated from the room.

Amelia followed and was forced back into consciousness. She fell asleep that night with renewed hope.

The next day, Illshya came up with a list of ingredients and Amelia gave them to Bob, who assured he could get them within a day or so.

The next night, Bob had all the ingredients and Amelia was ready to go. They needed a large space to do this, so Bob took Amelia down in the basement. Everyone was curious to know what was going on, but the demon had forbid anyone else from being there except for Bob.

"_Child, I can sense that you are nervous, but do not be. Robert will take care of you. I wouldn't trust anyone else with doing this more than I have faith in him. Be warned though, it's been a long time since I have spoken with my brother, so he might not even agree to see me. I will try my best," the demon promised._

"_Thank you, my lady. That is all I can ask for." Amelia replied._

She walked down into the basement where Bob was already waiting.

"Hey Mimi, just take a seat in that chair over there, okay?" he asked, pointing to a wooden chair in front of him.

She sat down and gazed at the ground. She was still nervous.

"Hey, don't worry, okay? I've worked with these materials before, so you'll be fine. I'll be here with you the whole time," he said, placing a hand on her shoulder for support and smiling.

She gave him a weak smile in return. "Okay, I'm ready."

Bob nodded. He put some ingredients in a bowl and lit it on fire. A thick blue smoke filled the room.

"Just breathe deeply. Whatever you do, don't forget to breathe," he said as he walked around the room, filling it up with smoke.

Amelia inhaled deeply and exhaled, trying to find her center of balance. The smoke didn't smell that bad, but it wasn't exactly daisies in the park.

As he walked around, Bob began to chant the ancient spell required for transportation to the Kingdom of the Sky. Amelia felt her limbs seize up and she shivered. The more that Bob said those words, the more restless the demon grew. Her heart was pounding in your chest, heartbeat roaring in her ears.

"Amelia, just keep breathing. Breathe," she could hear Bob saying. She did what he said, but it didn't seem to help much. She seized again and shuddered, and then, nothing. Everything faded to black.


	41. When The Sun Goes Down 13

**Everything for now will be in the point of view of the demon.**

_The ritual had gone as planned. Lady Illshya felt herself lift out of the child's body and ascend into the Kingdom of the Sky. She planted her feet firmly on the clouds and folded her wings into her back. She could see the large gates that marked the entrance into her brother's territory and she braced herself. _

_She walked forward until she reached the gates. There was an elderly man sitting at a high podium. She recognized him to be Balthazar, a friend of her family, and the guardian of the gates. He held a quill in his hand and was reading a long list of names. _

_She stepped forward and cleared her throat._

_"Name?" Balthazar asked._

_"Illshya, demoness of hell," she replied and the man gave a frightened jump._

_"Goodness me, Lady Illshya, it's been many centuries. What can I do for you?"_

_"I"m here to see my brother. It's important."_

_"Very well, I'll let you through. Be careful, though, he's in a rather foul mood," the old man warned her as he opened the gates._

_Illshya bowed in thanks and walked through the gates. As the gates closed behind her, she heard someone approaching and instinctively drew her weapons._

_"Well, I'll be damned. No wait, that's you. What a pleasant surprise. My sister has decided to crawl from the depths of hell just to come and visit me. Isn't that nice?" sneered a voice as a figure walked towards Illshya._

_The figure was taller than Illshya and was wearing black and white armor. His eyes were obscured slightly by a blue helmet. A pair of large white wings was folded up on his back._

_"Believe me, brother, had I the choice, I wouldn't have come to see you," Illshya sneered right back as she lowered her weapons._

_"Then why have you come?" he demanded._

_"I need something."_

_"What?"_

_"I need help," she said quietly, but her brother heard every word._

_"Wait a minute, you're kidding, right? Lady Illshya, the demoness of hell, the baddest demon of them all, the one who completely disobeyed my will and got herself banished, is asking for MY help? I'm flattered," Orion replied stubbornly._

_Illshya, growing tired of her brother, slugged him as hard as she could in the face and was delighted when his helmet flew off his head. His icy blue eyes burned into her fierce green ones._

_"Believe me, if this wasn't a dire situation, I would take care of it myself. Now, cut the crap, brother, or I'll shove that helmet of yours so far up your ass, it'll come out your mouth," Illshya threatened, and her brother knew she was serious._

_"Fine, fine, what do you want?"_

_"I need to know where a particular vampire was sired."_

_"Who?"_

_"William Beckett," she said, and he whistled in appreciation._

_"William Beckett? How do you know him?"_

_"It's a long story, but he is going after my host, and I need to destroy him. According to the child, he was turned some time in 1715. As you recall, I was in Japan at that time and would not have known about him."_

_"Even my memory is fuzzy. Let us consult the Annals," he said as he turned and walked away. Illshya followed him and he led her to an immaculate white room with a large book on a pedestal. _

_He flipped through the pages of the book. The book was a magical record of every event in the world since the dawning of time. Orion flipped through the pages as Illshya waited._

_"Can't you go any faster?" she asked, not wanting to keep the child unconscious for longer than necessary._

_He rolled his eyes and looked at her. "Well I could, but I'm sorry that there were millions of years that came before the year 1715."_  
><em>Eventually though, he was able to find it.<em>

_"Let's see, in 1715, it was recorded that William Beckett was living in the territory that would later become Louisiana, and he was sired by a vampire named Lestat DeLioncourt."_

_"That's what I was looking for. Many thanks, brother," Illshya said as she retreated._

_"Oh, and Lady Illshya?" he called as she walked out. She turned to face him. "Never come and visit me again."_

_"Believe me, brother, I won't, unless it's absolutely necessary," she said, and left._

Back in the real world, Bob was getting worried. Amelia had been unconscious for almost a half hour. He'd never seen anything like it. As he was going to walk over and check on her, he heard the sound of wood splintering as the door was thrown off of its hinges. He sighed to himself.

Mikey, Gerard, and everyone else came flooding down the basement stairs. They coughed at the smell of the smoke.

"Jesus, Bob, open a window or something," Gerard said as he coughed and unlatched a window.

David blew all of the smoke out of the room with a giant gust of Airbending.

"So, what do we know?" Chuck asked.

"Nothing yet," Bob said, trying to play it cool. He didn't want the others to know that she'd been unconscious for almost a half hour.

Mikey was looking at Bob with a strange look on his face and his ears were perked, listening for something. He walked over to Amelia and sniffed her. He felt her neck, presumably to look for a pulse, and Bob twitched nervously.

He became increasingly nervous when he heard Mikey growl, and when Mikey looked up at him, there was pure rage in his eyes.

"She has no pulse, Bob. WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO TO HER?" Mikey demanded, snapping his teeth.

"I, uh, I..." he stuttered, not sure of what to say. He hadn't planned for anything like this to happen.

Mikey walked towards Bob and stared him down. Normally, Bob wasn't a very emotional person. He tried not to let his emotions show, but right at this moment, he was scared shitless. Mikey Way, when he was angry, was probably the scariest thing in the world.

"Well?" he demanded.

Gerard walked towards Mikey, trying to calm him down by saying that Bob didn't mean for it to happen, anything he could think of to try and appease him. Nothing worked.

Meanwhile, Sebastien, who was calmly observing the situation, looked at Chuck.

"Try and do something to help her," he demanded, using every fiber of power to keep himself calm.

Chuck walked over to Amelia and bent some water from the flask at his hip. As he was going to try and heal her, Mikey looked at him with death in his eyes.

"Don't you dare touch her," he said, his voice deadly.

Chuck let the water fall and when he did, Amelia actually fell out of the chair. Seb got to her first and caught her before she hit the ground.

"Come on, Mimi. Wake up. Just wake up," he muttered, but for a whole minute, nothing happened.

The tension in the room was almost palpable. Just as Mikey took a swipe at Bob with one of his claws, Amelia suddenly sat up in Seb's arms, eyes wide and coughing. She looked around at everyone, bewildered. Everyone sighed in relief, and Bob could finally breathe again.

"You okay, Mimi?" Sebastien asked, concerned.

"I'm fine, Seb. It's just a little startling when your soul leaves your body and then suddenly comes back without warning," she said, mustering a weak smile.

Seb carried her upstairs and everyone else followed, except for Mikey and Bob. Mikey looked at Bob and for a minute, Bob thought he was actually going to hurt him. Instead, he hugged him.

"I am SO sorry about all of that. It just freaked me out, you know?" he said and Bob understood.

They walked upstairs and went to the living room, where Seb had placed Amelia on the couch.

"So, what did the demon find out?" everyone wanted to know.

"Well, she said that, according to some mystical book that contains everything that's ever happened in the world, Beckett was sired in 1715 in Louisiana by a vampire named Lestat DeLioncourt," she replied.

"So that's where they are. That's what he meant by going back to his roots. He went back to Louisiana, where he was sired," Gerard said, finally understanding.

"Well guys, I hope you know how to speak French, because we might just need it," David said and everyone agreed.


	42. When The Sun Goes Down 14

AJ grinned, the weather outside was perfect to sit and watch the wind blow through the trees. Carden's illusion had worked wonders, and it was easy to work with. The pale green dress AJ wore fit alright, (aside from the fact there was a little more give in the front toward her waist) and the back of it was ruched with ribbon and lace. As she sat on the front porch of the house, humming a melody from a song her and Amelia used to listen to, she smiled.

The only thing she was waiting for was the reaction.

Course, there was still just one thing that bugged her. Amelia hadn't found her yet. How long had it been since Chislett had been killed and she's been captured? Two weeks? Three?

She couldn't even remember. Not that it mattered much; AJ was used to not realizing how much time passed between events. She closed her eyes and felt the wind run through her hair, wishing she hadn't braided it. The two sections at the front of her hair, just next to her bangs, were braided and pinned back while the rest of her hair was pulled into a low pony. She hadn't wanted her hair up, but Carden insisted if her hair was off her face that it would heighten the effects from the illusion, mainly the darker circles under her eyes and her darkened irises. It wasn't any harder for her to see, but the color did make her look like she was sick.

Instead of hazel irises, they were nearly black.

"Adeline, do come in soon, okay? I don't want you wandering off and the illusion to break." William called from the living room to which she got up to go talk to him.

"Alright! But…I was thinking, when Amelia finds me…if she does…well, I should ask first but…if this was real, the baby would be stronger than me, right? As in having the ability to sap my strength?"

He nodded, "Where are you going with this?"

"Because I'm part lycan, I've learned how to dislocate at will to avoid injury. I was thinking, if she sees me on the porch, once she figures out what's happened, I'll get up and call for you, and the moment you see me – I'll dislocate my knee or something and fall, blaming 'it' for taking away my strength…that should horrify her!" She exclaimed gleefully, the very idea making her smile twitch in anticipation.

"You know, I would want to be careful about that…it you do it the wrong wa-"

"William, I've done this tons of times before…this time is nothing, it'll just look like it's really bad."

"Fine. But I'll stress the timing again, your part has to be-" he started, but she had already skipped off.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The group wanted to depart as soon as possible, but they decided to wait for at least a day so that Amelia could recuperate. During the day, while Amelia and the vampires rested, everyone else was busy preparing themselves for the trip. They packed luggage and got the legal permissions, seeing as Amelia and AJ were technically both assassins. Later that night, when Amelia and the others woke up, they packed up and boarded a plane to New Jersey.

Gerard had managed to pull some strings and had booked a flight reserved for only them. They decided to use the two and a half hours of flying to plan.

"So, did Orion say where exactly in Louisiana Beckett was from?" Mikey asked.

Amelia shrugged.

_"My lady, did Orion say anything about where in Louisiana we were supposed to go?"_

_"No, but I know Lestat. I lived in France for a time and we were...close, I'll put it that way. He hails from New Orleans and when I knew him, he didn't care much for travel. We should start our search in New Orleans," the demon replied._

"Illshya says that William's sire, Lestat, is from New Orleans. We should start there," Amelia said and everyone agreed.

"Once we get there, what are we going to do? We don't want this to end like the incident in Chicago," Ray reminded everyone.

"First, we're going to find a place to stay. We need to have a base. If I know Beckett, this is going to take a few days," Gerard said.

"Once we do that, we'll scour the entire city for any sign of them," Frank added.

"We can't possibly cover all the ground by ourselves. We'll divide into teams. Sebastien, you, Amelia, Ray, Pierre, and Chuck will be one team. Frank, David, Jeff, and Bob, you'll be another team. Mikey and I will go at it by ourselves," Gerard decided.

"What do we do if we find them?" Amelia asked.

"First, do not engage them. Any of Beckett's men, especially Beckett, will be extremely dangerous on his home territory. If you see any of them, or find the house, call the whole group together immediately. When that happens, we'll come up with a plan. Sounds good?" Gerard asked.

Everyone nodded.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The rest of the flight was in silence. By the time the plane landed in Louisiana, everyone was bursting with excitement. The weather, though, was a little different than Jersey. The air was thick with humidity, much to the displeasure of Mikey and Sebastien. They braved through it though, and the group was able to stay at a hotel for a couple of days.

After that, they split up into groups and began the search.

Amelia's group went to the French quarter, since they had the most people who could speak French. Frank's group went to the East side and Gerard and Mikey went to the West side.

Amelia walked alongside Sebastien and Ray, eyes and ears alert for anything.

"Smell anything yet, Seb?" Amelia asked and he wrinkled his nose.

"Nope, but there's a lot of magic here. I almost wish we had Bob here, he could probably get rid of some of the wards.

They traipsed through the various neighborhoods for a few hours with Pierre, Seb, or Chuck occasionally asking people on the streets if they had seen Beckett. All of the answers pointed to no, and as they were going to turn around and go back, Sebastien caught a whiff of something.

He spun on his heels and began running. Everyone ran after, trying to figure out what he had smelled.

"Jeeze Seb, slow down!" Pierre yelled.

Eventually, Seb came to stop in front of a lavish bayou mansion. He stopped at the walkway and waited.

"This is it," he announced as everyone caught up with him.

"You sure?" Ray asked.

He nodded. "Yes. I can smell all of them, including AJ. This is it."

"Call Gerard, and I'll call Frank," Ray said as he pulled out his phone.

Amelia pulled out hers and called Gerard.

Within 20 minutes, the entire group had assembled.

"Okay, so now what do we do?" David asked.

"Well, let's just go in there and see what happens," Gerard said.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
>They walked up the walkway, careful to be aware so that Beckett and his men couldn't sneak up on them.<p>

Amelia could see someone sitting out on the veranda. She immediately recognized AJ. She walked up to her.

"AJ? Is that you? What are you doing out here alone?"

The girl in the dress didn't turn, but once Amelia heard her voice, she knew who it was.

"I'm not alone. Just getting some air, that's all. I've been sick for a while, William actually doesn't know how to handle me…well, it. It's a problem he's never faced before, and you know how old he is. So I'm just thinking, that's all."

"Come on, let's go! Seb and Mikey and the others are here with me, we can leave and go back to Jersey, figure out how to defeat Beckett! AJ, look at me, c'mon…" Amelia tried again, realizing the boys had followed her.

When she did turn to face them, the entire group was shocked. This AJ did not look like the one they'd seen at Slane Castle. She looked worse. Not worse as in beaten, but…it looked like she was really sick.

The bags under her eyes were dark purple, faint fragments of what would have been veins visible through her paler than pale skin. Her eyes didn't look the same either, they seemed…

"Your eyes…what happened to your eyes?" Mikey asked.

AJ shrugged, "Guess that's just a side-effect…oh well. I look different, don't I?" she wondered cheerfully, holding out her hands as though she wanted the others to look over her.

And then Amelia saw it. Butcher hadn't been lying. Because on AJ's ring finger on her left hand, was a ring.

"Y-you…y-you…"

"Oh, come now, Ilysha got your tongue? It's a ring…deal." AJ teased.

"Yeah, b-but…then you actually-"

"Did you think I was kidding? I'm not; in fact I'm surprised you haven't put two and two together yet. How long will it take? Better hurry, I don't know how long I'll be living as a hybrid before I die. Again, I should add."

Frank turned to Amelia, "You know who she sounds like, don't you?"

"Yeah, one of them…"

"One of who? The boys aren't all bad you know…William keeps them in check, and now since our little problem has complicated things they know to leave me alone. You should see me when I don't have blood…"  
>Amelia's eyes widened. When AJ didn't have blood? Oh no…<p>

"What do you mean your 'little problem'?" Ray asked, puzzled by the way she spoke so plainly about whatever it was.

"Well…" AJ started, fiddling with the hem of her dress, "If you really must know…don't be surprised," she added, looking at Amelia, "that it's come to this."

With that, she set her hands over her stomach and Amelia realized at once why the dress fit the way it did, why AJ was so sick looking.

"You…you're…you're…"

"Yep. Didn't think it would work, but… puppy dog pouts can get you anything if you do them right," she smiled, laughing.

How could she be laughing?

"Adeline! Dinner!" Beckett called from inside.

AJ turned back to Amelia, then glanced at the door.

"It's been nice seeing you, but…I must be going. Au revoir." And then AJ turned, to go inside. Reaching the doorframe, she willed herself to move her knee in just the right way, and-

"OOOWWW! Ah-" she yelped as she fell, collapsing into the half open door, one hand automatically going to rest on her stomach, the other trying to break her fall. But she didn't need to.

Because as soon as she looked up, she saw William had caught her mid-fall.

"Something get loose again? Come now, we'd better get you inside. And that's the last time I'm letting you out of my sight. From now on one of the boys will watch you, I really don't want anything else happening to you or the-" he looked up at the sound of Mikey's growl.

"Oh, hello…I see Adeline must have forgotten to tell me you were coming….do come in, there's enough food for all of us."

Amelia just glared at him, and then looked at AJ, realizing things had gone from bad to worse to just freaking lovely. As she reluctantly stepped inside, she couldn't help her thoughts.

_'AJ…I'm getting you back, I swear…and we're getting rid of that, and him…and the rest of them. It's far past the time this son of a bitch needs to die.'_


	43. When The Sun Goes Down 15

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When both groups had made their way into the living room, it seemed everyone was shocked into silence. No-one spoke, it was as though nobody knew what to say.

Amelia, Seb, Mikey, Frank and Jeff stood close to the door leading to the kitchen, Gerard, Pierre, Chuck, David and Bob on the other side of the room, effectively blocking anyone's escape.

_'This is strange.'_ Amelia thought. _'Where are the other Dandies?'_

Beckett carefully set AJ down on the couch, and then knelt on the floor next to her.

"You sure you were just walking this time?"

"I told you, I was just turning around to go inside," she sighed, hands settling over her stomach, "And then my knee went again...I don't know what will be next..."

Amelia almost felt sorry for AJ, but then she remembered what was doing this to her. For all she cared, AJ needed to learn from her mistakes, perhaps letting 'it' break something and really injure her was the only way she'd learn.

"I don't either. And I don't want to take anymore chances. This may sound strict, but from now on, one of the boys has to keep watch on you."

"But Willi-" she coughed, and it was raspy, like her lungs were working overtime to keep her breathing, "Can you go get me some blood? I don't think eating's the best idea right now."

"Of course, love." he kissed her forehead and then got up, turning around to face Amelia.

"As much as I'd love to kill you all on the spot, that's not something I believe we should subject Adeline to, being she's in such a weak state."

"She's like that because it's your fault, you sick bastard!" Amelia yelled, lunging for Beckett, suddenly being stopped.

"Now, you'd think you'd be grateful he's decided to not shed blood in front of the mutt," Brendon mused as his grip tightened around Amelia.

She gasped, where had he come from? And before she knew it, the others had swept into the room, Carden immediately heading toward AJ.

"Did she dislocate something again? I told you we should have just gotten rid of it before she got attached to it," he was saying, but Amelia never got to hear the rest as someone ran past her.

Mikey ran for Carden, taking advantage of the fact that the fight hadn't started yet. First punch always meant bragging rights when it was over.

Carden had barely turned around when Mikey tackled him, the two falling to the ground in a mix of yells and claws. Beckett looked at the two, already aiming to killing the other, and then at Gerard.

"So that's how you're to play this game? Be my guest."

He waved his hand, almost in a 'come and get me' motion, and then everyone jumped into action.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Amelia turned to look at Brendon, trying to wiggle herself free, surprised when he let go.

"Go after Beckett. Fine by me. I'll settle for that stupid Canadien mutt," he added with a smirk.

"Gladly." And without another word, Amelia ran, trying to find him.

The entire room was a mess, with Carden and Mikey going at it in one spot, Pierre, David, and Ray facing Jon, while Seb, Chuck, and Bob were trying to take down Brendon. Spencer and Ryan were teaming up against Jeff and Frank, which Amelia realized left her and Gerard to go after Beckett.

At once Amelia knew what she had to do. Talking sense into AJ had worked before, perhaps it would work again?

"AJ! Listen to me! This isn't what you want! All this fighting? You're not one of them, I know you! Even if that thing is turning you, you won't be like-" she yelled over the commotion, hoping AJ could hear her.

To her surprise she found the hybrid standing in front of her, her leg seemingly healed already.

"You and Carden think the same way," she started, and the remark stung Amelia, to hear this comparison was sickening. "Calling 'it' it and insisting I do things a certain way, or to stay the way I am...I'm sick of it! I know if I phase now, it'll probably kill me seeing as the stress and the adrenaline will overwhelm his body, but god damnit, if that'll be the end of me, let me go out in style!" she exclaimed, Amelia noticing her body was already shaking from adrenalin.

"It doesn't have to be this way...AJ, just relax...we can sneak away, get it taken care of, and then come back and kick-"

"SHUT UP! YOU JUST DON'T GET IT! THE ONLY ONE THAT EVER DOES IS WILLIAM! HE HASN'T DONE ANYTHING WRONG AND YET YOU'RE STILL TRYING TO-" Suddenly her voice died mid-rant, and her irises seemed to get even darker. Her mouth contorted into a half-smile, her head tilting.

And the next thing Amelia knew, AJ had punched her in the face.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Amelia stumbled back, still trying to make sense of the past ten seconds.

_'Ouch. Damn, lycans punch hard...wait, what the hell?'_

"That's for Callahan. Now get out, or William and I will make sure you and your friends never see the sun again." AJ threatened, voice stern.

"Callahan? Callahan? You named it! Wow...you really are as bad as I thought." Amelia fumed, Frank's words ringing in her ears,_ "What if she's not on 'our' side anymore?"_

"That's a nice name but thanks to its father, the name won't change how ugly it'll be," Gerard added.

"Right, says the vampire that dyed his hair with cherry kool-aid. I'd think most teenagers would know manic panic dye works much better..." AJ shot back before continuing, "Now, will you leave us in peace, or do we have to kick y'all out the hard way? I've got no southern hospitality left to someone that tries to destroy my home and family," she reasoned.

Amelia's jaw dropped. Had AJ just used the word 'family' in regard to the Dandies?

"Actually, forget leaving. William's quite wrong about the bloodshed. I'd much rather enjoy it, at least then I could have snack. And I think," she grinned, looking at Amelia, her eyes like a cat's tentatively watching a mouse, waiting to strike, "I think I'll start with you."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Yeah, well, try me, bitch." Amelia spat, realizing Frank had been right. She really wasn't on their side.

"You asked for it." AJ replied, giggling as she leapt toward Amelia, primal-mama-grizzly rage in her eyes.

Before either girl could land a hit, they were stopped.

"What the hell? William, put me down! I'm in the middle of-"

"Not in your condition you're not."

"Yes I am! Let me go!" AJ hollered, struggling against his grip, his arms locked around her waist.

"Can't do that, darling."

At the same time, Amelia realized she couldn't move who it was, she sighed.

"Gee, come on, let me rip her throat out! I'll be careful, I won't leave much blood for Beckett to lick up, though I probably should because this bastard deserves it,"she added as an afterthought.

"No. You're not killing your best friend."

"She's not her! She's one of them! She's an enemy, Gee! We need to kill her!"

"Not before I snap your neck first!" AJ yelled, squirming against Beckett's grip, still trying to get free.

"Adeline, what did I say? You're not fighting when you're in your current condition!"

She turned her head to glare at him, "Who are you, my father? Oh, that's right, he's dead!"

"Just like you're going to be when I get free," Amelia threw in icily.

At that moment, Gerard looked up, and found himself looking at Beckett. No words were exchanged, but they both thought the same thing. There was no way they were going to let the girls kill each other, not when they'd been such good friends.

Beckett nodded, almost as if he and Gerard were on the same page. To shut the girls up, their really only was one surefire way.

Gerard looked at Amelia, her blue-green eyes ensure which emotion to show. Anger? Sadness? Determination? Blinking, he said a single word.

"Sleep."  
>Almost instantly, Amelia went limp in his arms, allowing him to carry her. He had to get the group to stop fighting, had back to base and regroup.<p>

He turned back to look at Beckett, to maybe say something to the effect of, 'Thanks for not attacking me' but the vampire had already fled the room, taking AJ with him.


	44. When The Sun Goes Down 16

William set AJ on the bed, and then turned to shut the door.

"Adeline, what were you thinking! Had she managed to land a hit, it could've broken the illusion! You've never been so rash in jumping into things!"

"It's because I...I'm just trying to make this believable!"

"Believability and maintaining the status quo are two different things." he stated.

"Well they shouldn't be!" She yelled back, absentmindedly balling her hands into fists, feeling like she was going to cry.

"Dear, calm down. I didn't raise my voice, there's no need for you to raise yours. I just want to know why you rushed into it."

AJ glared, "If you want to know so badly, figure it out yourself."

He did a double take.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

She turned, sitting up against the pillows, hands setting on her hips in the typical female defiant stance.

"I said, figure it out yourself, Beckett!" She snapped, turning over and curling into a ball, soft sobs escaping her lips.

Startled by her sudden outburst, William knew something was wrong.

Turning from where he stood by the door, he walked over to the bed, where she lay, face buried in a pillow sobbing.

"Hey...I'm sorry. I know you're only trying to make this work. But that doesn't explain your...that ." he started gently, putting a hand on her shoulder.

She raised her head, her darkened eyes leaving tear tracks.

"I'm sorry too...I just...there's so much that's wrong about this...I..." she blinked, and even in her darkened eyes he could see a whirlwind of different emotions.

Before he knew what she was thinking, she had kissed him.

This was different than anything he'd ever felt from her. It was desperate, and the way that she grabbed him only reinforced the idea. The illusion had made her physically weaker, but she still grabbed the collar of his jacket and held tight to it as she tried to pull him on top of her.

He almost smiled as he heard her slight moan as his hands reached for the hem of her dress, being careful not to jarre the knee that had come undone. Reluctantly he pulled away as her eyelids fluttered and then she cringed.

"What's wrong?"

"This whole thing is just messed up...I mean...we're faking it. I'm already tricked into believing this is real, I'm fighting for something that doesn't exist! I don't even want to be faking it! I punched my best friend, and then I….what's gotten into me?"

"It's the hormones," William started, leaning in to kiss her before she turned her head.

"No! It's not! This is FAKE! I'm not pregnant and we're not married! This illusion is just a tease, of what my life could've b-been!"

William realized she was crying again, the reason for her outburst becoming clear.

He stopped moving, his mind processing what he'd discovered.

"Adeline…you could have told me of your desires sooner." He stated, making her eyes widen.

"You wouldn't listen to them anyways. And why now….all of a sudden?"

"You're distraught over something that can be remedied quite easily."

"And h-how's th-that?" She looked up, her hazel eyes meeting William's brown.

She didn't shudder as he kissed her forehead, didn't flinch as one of his hands caressed her legs.

He smiled.

"You want this to be real."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
><strong>Back in the hotel room:<strong>

"Gee, she fucking punched me in the face! You expect me not to want to tear her apart? Now that that thing's in her, she deserves to die! I don't care if that kills her! You know what, good, let it. I want her to see 'Callahan' with her dying breath...can't believe she turned on me like this!"

"Amelia, calm down...I know you're upset..."

"Gerard, no, listen to me! I'm venting! And if you don't want to see Illshya, you'll listen!"

"Okay...continue."

"So anyways...why? How the fuck could she do this! I really hope that...that spawn just rips her up, inside and out! Knowing its father it'll probably enjoy the carnage...but...god, why? She's so sick from it, but I'll bet she's wrapped up in his arms and she's 'Oh, Bilvy, please don't let the baby kill me, I love you...and oh, kiss me and...' sick bitch. She deserves everything that's coming to her. And you know what, let it grow. I won't kill her when she could cause her own death!"

"Amelia, just calm down...we have to figure out what we're going to do about this. We can't jump into anything we don't have control of our emotions, because whenever that happens, people end up hurt even more."

"So what if I don't have control of my emotions! Gerard, do you know what it's going to be like to have to tell Lucian that the girl that is pretty much like his only family has officially gone over to the other side? If you thought your brother was scary when he's angry, Lucian is a million times worse. God, why would she do that? Gah, I can't even think straight right now," she fumed and Gerard tried to calm her down.

"Amelia, I understand that you're angry, and you want to do something, but right now -"

"No, Gerard, you don't understand! None of you understand what this is like for me! You wanna know how it feels, Gerard? What if Mikey suddenly turned on you? What if _he_ was living with the enemy? Or what about Sara Ann? What if Sara Ann had -"

At the mention of Sara's name, Gerard had grabbed Amelia and placed his hand over her mouth. She struggled, but he grabbed her and held her close.

"You don't know what you're talking about. You didn't know Sara! Now, you're never going to compare Adeline to her. She is NOT Sara and never will be," Gerard whispered, his voice tinged with both sadness and rage.

The moment that he had grabbed Amelia, Mikey had gotten up from his seat and put a hand on Gerard's shoulder.

"Let her go, Gee. Let her go. She didn't mean it," he said softly and Gerard let her go.

When he did, she pushed him away from her and he fell into Mikey. Amelia spun on her heels and ran out of the hotel room.

"Seb, go follow her. I don't want her to get hurt," Mikey said and Sebastien nodded.

Amelia ran as far away from the hotel as she could. Tears of rage streamed down her face, so it was difficult to see where she was going. The moon was rising high as daylight faded from the sky. She sank down to her knees and cried. How could everything be going so wrong? She just wanted things to be the same as they were, before spring break, before they had ever even accepted the job from Patrick!

Wiping her eyes, she stood up and she realized she had no idea where she was. It was a deserted part of town, filled with abandoned storefronts, dark alleys, and lots of signs in French that she couldn't read. She heard footsteps approaching her and she sighed.

"Sebastien, I know that's you. I know Mikey asked you to follow me, but just leave me alone!" she shouted.

The footsteps stopped for a moment, and Amelia thought that whomever it was had gone away.

Then suddenly, something crashed into some crates that were in front of a store, and Amelia turned to look that way. There was something crawling on its hands and knees towards Amelia. She immediately took out her gun and fired a shot. Unphased, it continued to advance, slowly making its way to its feet. It walked towards her with haphazard and sluggish movements. She fired another shot, but it kept walking.

She backed up as it advanced, when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She screamed and turned around. There was another creature, just like the first one, behind her. She fired a shot, but they just kept coming. Before she knew what happened, there were dozens of the creatures! She dodged as many as she could.

From far away, she could hear a voice. It said, "Be gone, demon. Leave this place." In the corner of her eye, she could see some people. They must have been the ones controlling these beings!

Deciding there was nothing else to do, she fired off as many rounds of bullets as she had, but it was all in vain. The creatures closed in on her. One of them, a particularly nasty looking thing, with pale skin that was torn in places and bulging eyes, managed to actually get close enough that it could bite Amelia. Its teeth sunk into her flesh, right in the junction between the base of her neck and her shoulder. She screamed in pain and fell to the ground, screaming.

Just when she thought she was done for, she heard a growl, and suddenly, the creatures were knocked out of view. Looking up, she could see someone standing over her. He had brown hair.

"Seb," she whispered.

Seb clawed his way through the creatures and took out as many of them he could. He looked down and saw Amelia on the ground, her shirt torn and her shoulder bloody. The creatures came back. He knew that there were too many of them for him to take on by himself, even if he phased. Without hesitation, he scooped Amelia up into his arms and took off running. He ran as fast as he could, his strong legs pounding on the pavement.

"Seb? Where are we going? My neck burns. Oh god, it hurts," she moaned.

"Just hang on, Mimi, we're almost there," Seb said.

He made it to the hotel and dashed up the stairs. He made his way to the room and when he got to the door, it opened, almost by itself.

Seb walked into the room, panting heavily.

"Jeeze, Seb, we could hear you coming a mile away," Frank lamented from the couch.

"Oh my god, what happened to Amelia?" Gerard exclaimed.

"Here, lay her down on the bed," Ray instructed, trying to keep everyone calm.

Seb set her down on the bed and then collapsed into the chair that Chuck had previously been sitting in.

"What happened?" Gerard asked again.

Sebastien took a deep breath. "Necromancers. At least, that's what I think they were. There were these things, zombies. I followed Amelia like Mikey said, but I lost her. Then I heard a scream and I found dozens of these creatures attacking her. They looked like they were being controlled by an outside force. One of them managed to bite her," he explained.

Bob and Chuck looked at one another. They got up and began to examine Amelia.

"Frank, go run and get me some ice!" Chuck instructed while throwing the ice bucket at Frank. Frank ran out of the room as fast as he could.

"Well, can you guys help her?" Gerard asked, impatient.

"Give us a minute to look her over!" Bob exclaimed and Gerard backed off.

They did a full head-to-toe examination and found no other injuries other than the bite. Bob felt her pulse, which was way above a normal pulse rate. Almost on cue, Mikey stated, "Jeeze, her pulse is racing!"

Little beads of sweat began to drip down her forehead and as they were examining her, she suddenly bolted upright, screaming.

Amelia looked at her surroundings. It was different than before. It was the hotel, or so she thought. When she looked up at the people around her, the skin melted off of their faces, leaving nothing but skeletons. There were spiders crawling everywhere, and she thought she saw a snake somewhere.

Bob and Chuck looked at one another again.

"Amelia! Amelia! Calm down, it's us! Jesus, Mikey, will you hold her down?" Bob yelled to be heard over Amelia's screaming.

At that moment, Frank burst back in the room with the ice.

"Took you long enough," Chuck remarked angrily.

Mikey held Amelia down by the shoulders. She thrashed and screamed, making it impossible for anyone to do anything. Bob finally decided to use the most powerful sleeping spell he knew, one that would render her unconscious for at least a day.

Once she had stopped moving, Chuck took the ice and liquified it. He bent the water onto her shoulder.

"Gerard, take one of the kunai knives and cut the rest of her shirt away from her shoulder, would you?" Chuck asked.

He did as he was told, which made it easier for Chuck to get at the wound. Chuck tried to close up the wound as much as he could. He stopped the wound from bleeding and bent the excess blood from around the wound and placed it in the sink.

"So, is she okay?" David asked.

"I'm not sure. She's unconscious but the wound isn't bleeding anymore. It's tough to say," Chuck said.

"Her heart is still racing, though," Mikey said.

"Yeah, and she's still sweating," Pierre pointed out.

"Do you think she could be infected?" Seb asked, hoping it wasn't true.

"Does she have a fever?" Ray asked.

Chuck took a small amount of water and gently bent it onto her forehead. The water evaporated almost instantly.

"Well, that's not normal," Jeff pointed out.

"Let's get her to a hospital. I think Chuck and I have done all we can," Bob said.

Everyone agreed. Mikey gently picked Amelia up and cradled her in his arms. Though she was sleeping, she still twitched occasionally.

The group rushed her to the nearest hospital.

* * *

><p><strong>Back at the Dandies' new mansion<strong>

"Hm….this whole illusion's going to be way too easy to pull off," AJ sighed as she turned over, her body finally beginning to relax. Almost immediately she felt William's fingers work their way into her hair.

"How so?"

"Well….I figure, once she thinks this illusion's gone on long enough, I'll sneak over to the hospital, into the birthing center where they keep the newborns, find one with blonde hair and brown eyes, kill his mom while she's sleeping, and then – come back here and there's the proof. Of course I'll have to really fake being tired for once but….I'll manage fine. Then we send pictures, and the bloodbath returns to our front door, except this time, I'm going to kill her." She explained.

"Love, surely you wouldn't…that girl has risked her life for you more than once, you know."

"I know that! But she can't see that I don't even want to go back to those days…" AJ looked up, curling closer to William, her head on his chest, "I want to stay here….where I know it's safe, and I'll be loved."

"Okay, now that's sounding more like a lost puppy."

"Can you blame me?"

AJ giggled, stopping when she heard branches breaking, staring wide eyed at the French doors leading to the balcony, and to whatever had made the noise below it.

"Ssshh, darling, it's only the-" he paused, as if he was thinking but then added, slightly annoyed, "I told them to control the bodies, to not lead them up by us. You'd think they would know not to anger someone that knows the area better then they themselves."

"Wait…what? I'm confused."

"This all started before your friends even arrived. You know by now that Spencer is a clairvoyant, he sees the future. We knew they were coming for you, and your idea leading to the illusion that we're in now has prolonged the tension. I contacted a few necromancers a few days ago to help dispose of your friends incase our battle failed to do so. If I'm right, being their puppets are travelling this way, they should have found what they were looking for. Now, there's a bit more to my point, but if I say anymore I have doubts you'll go through with it."

"Which is what? It can't be that bad…it's not like you're going to have the boys cut me open, are you?"

"No, nothing of that sort. Well, this illusion, that you're pregnant and all….it's taking a toll on Mike, and quite frankly, the idea that I want to put into action needs him at his full potential."

"So we're terminating this illusion." She answered dejectedly, the word sounding as though she had being talking about getting an abortion then rather the effects fading away.

"Yes…you see, my plan? If the necromancers did their work, the demon should be in the hospital. That hospital, as you know, isn't really a hospital, rather…another illusion. My plan is that we lie low a few days, then send her some encouragement, a 'get better soon' if you will. Then, we strike."

"How?"

"The elevators. We can rig them to separate the group, as they must likely won't travel alone. That's where Mike comes in. He will create enough madness to slowly drive the divided group out of their minds." William finished, smiling.

"Hm…and where do I come in?"

"Well, my dear, I'm giving you the chance you didn't have tonight. To kill the demon. You'll be at full strength since the pregnancy illusion will have faded, and that alone should give you the upper hand. Not to mention as a hybrid you carry my DNA."

AJ grinned, closing her eyes.

Killing Amelia was just the thought she needed to send her into peaceful dreams, William's arms around her all the while.


	45. When The Sun Goes Down 17

They burst through the doors and the nurse who was working at the admission desk looked up.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

Before Mikey could reply, Bob walked up to the counter and explained the situation.

"Yes, you can, miss. You see, our friend here," he started, gesturing to Amelia, "was attacked by a zombie, and there's a possibility that her wound might be infected. We want some tests run and we want a doctor to see her.

"Of course, right this way," the nurse replied as she led the guys into the ER.

About an hour later, Amelia was set up in a room. She was hooked up to various machines and IV's. The doctors came in and examined her. They determined that she was not infected with a zombie virus, but they gave her antibiotics just to be safe. The doctors also decided that she should stay in the hospital for a few days.

The days passed slowly, the boys coming each day to visit and then leaving when visiting hours were up. One day, as Amelia was watching old reruns of 90's cartoons on Boomerang, a nurse came in.

"Amelia Clearwater?"

She looked up, "Yes, that's me. Can I leave yet?"

"Well, no, not quite yet. Sorry to bother you, but your friends are here, and this came for you, someone dropped it off this morning." the nurse said, handing Amelia an envelope just as Mikey, Seb and the others came into the room

"Hey Mimi, what's that?" Ray asked, motioning to the envelope she held

"I don't know. Nurse said it's for me and someone dropped it off this morning...wonder what it is?

"Open it. It's not like it's going to be a bomb." Pierre added, curiosity getting the better of him, not realizing how oddly morbid the joke had sounded.

"Well, there was that anthrax scare, but...it's just a letter, probably. What could the worst be?"

She opened the envelope slowly, unsure of what to expect.

Pulling it open, she found a card. It was a simple one, a light green background with a elm tree and flowers on the front, a sun sending warm colors cascading in the painted sky. Opening it, she was surprised when a small piece of paper fell out.

And then she read the inside of the card, blinking to be sure that's what it really said.

'Hoping for your speedy recovery, and that you remember that although the skies may be storming today, there's always a rainbow on its heels.'

It wasn't the writing that had startled her. It would have been a nice card, had William Beckett not signed it.

"Mimi...you okay? You look really pale," Gerard said, reaching for the card as she grabbed the piece of paper that had fallen out. As she looked at it, she immediately recognized the handwriting.

It was AJ's. And written on the little piece of paper, appeared to be a poem.

_"Never trust a stranger, friend No one knows how it will end_

_As you're pretty, so be wise Wolves may lurk in every guise_

_Handsome they may be, and kind, Gay, or charming never mind..._

_Now as then, the simple truth: Sweetest tongue has sharpest tooth..._

What the hell was that supposed to mean? Not even bothering to think about the creepy poem, she handed the card off, not wanting to be near it.

"How the hell did he know that she'd been hurt?" Gerard wondered, not surprised Beckett had decided to do something like this.

"One of his men can see the future, maybe they knew she'd get attacked." Chuck added.

"Or-" Amelia started, "Or he's the one that sent those things after me...If he was sired here, he probably knows enough of the locals to have a small army under his control to get rid of people like us..."

"That does seem like it's plausible...what's the little slip of paper?"

"It's a poem, from AJ. It's weird because I don't really get it. Is she trying to tell me something?" Amelia asked, passing the little paper to whoever could figure it out.

"It seems pretty simple if you look at the wording. I think she's saying don't trust anyone, and because you're pretty you're prone to underestimate people...and the last part is that the nicest people sometimes have the worst intentions." Bob said after looking over the poem, leaving the others to stare dumbfounded at him for a moment.

"Really? That was like," Amelia snapped her fingers, "That. Had we been able to find AJ in Slane castle in that amount of time, she might be here with us, not in the big house with that...thing getting ready to kill her," she added, mind wandering to how AJ was actually dealing with everything.

"I think Bob is right. With AJ working with Beckett, we can't trust anyone. Especially not her," Mikey said, nodding in agreement.

The boys stayed with her all day. At about 9:00 p.m., a nurse came in and announced that visiting hours were over and would the boys kindly please escort themselves out. Everyone hugged Amelia and said their goodbyes.

"Don't worry, Mimi, we'll be back as soon as visiting hours start tomorrow," Mikey assured her.

"Sleep well, okay? Don't let the zombies get you," David said jokingly.

Seb glared at him and smacked him upside the head.

"Ow! Hey, I was just trying to be funny!" David complained as he rubbed his head.

Seb said something to him in French and the ones who could understand him laughed. After that, they all filed quietly out of the room as the nurse nodded in approval.

* * *

><p>The boys walked out of Amelia's room and down the hallway to the elevators. It was a small hospital, so there were only two elevators. Gerard pressed the button to call the elevator and everyone waited for the elevator.<p>

"Hey guys, you know that since there are only two elevators, we all won't be able to fit in them at once, right?" Ray asked, forever the logical one.

"True. If that's the case, we'll go down in groups. Mikey and I will go down first, then Dave, Seb, and Pierre. Ray, Frank, Jeff, and Chuck can fit 'cause you guys are all relatively skinny, or in Frank's case, short," Gerard said as Frank flipped him off. "Oh, and Bob and Chuck, you guys can make it down last."

"I see how it is," Bob remarked, feigning hurt.

At that moment, the elevator dinged and Gerard and Mikey stepped on.

"We'll meet you guys out front," Gerard said as the door closed.

The doors closed and the brothers settled in for a nice ride down from the sixth floor. The elevator lurched and slowly began its descent. After a few moments, Mikey sighed.

"What's taking so long? We should be there already," he complained, and Gerard had to laugh at his younger brother's impatience.

After a few minutes, though, Gerard had to admit, Mikey was right. It was like the elevator had stopped moving, though both of them could still feel it going down. All at once, the car seemed to speed towards the ground and the lights flickered. Both of the brothers braced themselves for the impact, but it never came. Instead, the elevator ground to a halt and the doors opened slowly.

Mikey and Gerard stepped cautiously out of the elevator. Wherever they had landed, it didn't look like the hospital anymore. The walls were old and crumbling and there weren't many lights. Thankfully, the hallways were illuminated by the moonlight. There were no windows and everything looked dirty. There was a smell of death and decay lingering in the air.

"Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore," Gerard remarked to Mikey, who nodded.

"Do you think we're in the basement? Did we press the wrong button?" Mikey asked

"I don't think so. I pressed the lobby button. Anyway, let's just try and find our way out of here."

The two walked along the corridor, searching for an exit. All of the sudden, Mikey's ears perked up.

"Wait, Gee, do you hear that? Listen. It sounded like a voice."

"Mikey, I didn't hear anything."

"Come on, let's follow it! Maybe they can tell us where the exit is!" Mikey exclaimed as he rushed off.

Gerard ran after his brother and grabbed him by the arm.

"Wait a minute, Mikey! We don't even know where we are. We need to stay together."

As he said this, the two of them suddenly heard something. Gerard shushed Mikey and they listened intently. It sounded like a little girl, singing.

"Nice try, guys. We know you're just trying to scare us. Well, it won't work!" Mikey shouted.

"Uh, Mikey, I don't think that was anyone we knew."

Mikey ignored him and began to walk in a different direction. When he did, Gerard suddenly saw something run in his peripheral vision. Mikey must have seen it too, because he started to growl.

It ran past them again, and this time, Mikey ran after the thing! Gerard chased after his brother, their footsteps reverberating off the empty walls. The thing giggled as it ran, and Gerard noticed that it sounded feminine, and oddly familiar.

It finally came to stop under a light and both of the brothers got a good look at it. It was wearing a powder blue dress and it had dark hair that fell in waves down its back. Mikey stepped back towards Gerard, visibly shocked. Gerard actually began to shake, unsure of what he was seeing.

"S-Sara? Sara Ann? Is that you?" he asked.

The figure turned around to face him, and, sure enough, staring back at him was his sister, though her throat was torn open and her dress was stained with blood.

"Hello, brothers. Good to see you again," she said with a curtsy.

Gerard swallowed the lump in his throat and took a deep breath.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, unsure if he wanted to hear the response.

"Waiting, for the two of you to show up. Don't you want to play with me?" the thing asked, smiling.

"Sara, that's impossible. You're...you're dead! You've been dead for 150 years!" Mikey exclaimed.

She laughed, a cold and emotionless cackle.

"That's very true, Michael. But you would know all about that, wouldn't you? You were supposed to keep an eye on me that day," she said as she twisted her hair around her finger absentmindedly.

"Mikey, what's she talking about?" Gerard asked as Mikey began to sweat.

"N-No. That's not true!" Mikey said.

"Oh, but it is, Michael. Mom told you to keep an eye on me that day. She didn't want her little baby going out into the woods that day because of the vampire attacks. But no, you had to go down to the creek that day, with your friends, leaving poor little me alone and defenseless."

"No...no, I would never do that!" Mikey insisted, balling his fists at his side.

"But you did! You left me alone, Michael! You were supposed to protect me, but you failed!" she cried.

Gerard looked from his sister to his brother, utterly confused. What was she talking about?

When he looked at Mikey, he could see tears running down his brother's face.

"Sara...Sara, I'm so sorry. I...I never meant for that to happen," he whispered.

"It doesn't matter now, does it, Michael? You let me die! You cared more about your friends than your sister! YOU KILLED ME!" she screamed and Mikey let out an anguished howl and sank to his knees.

Gerard was truly scared now. He had never seen Mikey so torn up and it worried him.

"Mikey...Mikey...Mikey, listen to me! She's not real! She's not there! Whatever you're seeing, whatever you're hearing, it's not Sara! It's probably just another one of Carden's illusions," Gerard said as he shook Mikey, trying to get him to return to his senses.

"No, no, no, no, no! It doesn't matter, Gee. It doesn't matter. I failed her and I know it!" he whimpered.

The thing in front of them laughed again in the same evil tone. Gerard, fed up with this, ran at the illusion, intending to destroy it. That's when everything around them faded, and suddenly the brothers were on the street, staring at a decrepit old building where the hospital once stood.

Everything they had gone through had been an illusion. Gerard looked at the building and only hoped that everyone else had gotten out safe.


	46. When The Sun Goes Down 18

Frank, Ray and Jeff got onto the next elevator. A few minutes passed in silence before Jeff spoke.

"Shouldn't these doors have opened by now? We weren't that high up, it shouldn't take this long to reach the lobby."

As if his words had set off the wiring, the elevator jerked to a stop and its doors opened. The trio stepped out, looking around. This looked nothing like the hallway they'd been in to find the elevators. The building was old, and smelled musty. The lights weren't even working properly!

"Freaky. Where the hell are we, Ray?" Frank asked as he looked around, noticing how odd it was that an elevator had worked it what appeared to be such an old building.

"No clue. There's got to be a way out of here though!" he declared as he stepped forward bravely, hoping to find an exit door within the next few minutes.

Jeff was the next to traverse the seemingly impenetrable darkness, and Frank followed after the two oni, senses on overdrive.

Was he hearing things? Or was it just his mind playing tricks on him? No, he heard another cry. It almost sounded like a little kid. Who would leave a little kid in such a depressing place?

"Hey, if you're lost, I'll help…come by the next light, okay? You don't have to be afraid…" Frank tried saying, hoping to coax the child out into the open where he could see it.

And when he turned around, it was there. A little girl, no older than five, was crouched in a lit area, head in her hands, sobbing quietly.

"Hey Ray? Jeff? You guys go on…I'm gonna take care of something really quick," he yelled, hearing the others' replies and fading footsteps.

"Hey, sweetie, what are you doing in here? Come on, let's go find your family," Frank said, gingerly setting a hand on the girl's shoulder. She sniffled and then coughs, looking at him.

Her eyes were a brilliant ice blue, her hair a mousy brown, matted and tangled in several spots.

"I….-hick-…Mister I have n-no f-family. I was l-left h-here." She stuttered, wiping her nose on her sleeve.

"Well, let's get you out of here then, okay? My friends can find someone to take care of you…how does that sound?"

The five year old smiled an unnatural smile for such a girl so young. It was…creepy, to say the least.

"Thank you for the offer, mister. But I'm afraid I have to feed…"

"Y-You have t—to-" Frank stumbled back, his hand hitting the wall. Pulling it away and looking at it, he yelped. His hand was covered in the webbing from a spider's web.

_'I hate spiders…please, please don't let this be like Lord of the Rings…or Harry Potter for that matter….'_ He thought,

"Too slow!" the girl yelled, and the next time he looked at her, it wasn't her! It was a spider, a gigantic black mass of….Frank shuddered.

This spider, or what was left of the girl, was roughly the size of Argog, easily three times Frank's size. He let out a shocked scream, trying to remember how to move as it began to advance.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As soon as Ray and Jeff heard Frank scream, they turned around and began to run back toward the  
>short vampire.<p>

"Frank, what the _fuck _is _that_?" Ray yelled, taking in the sight of the large arachnid that was chasing his friend.

"A giant spider, apparently! You just going to stand there, or are you going to help me?"

Ray and Jeff both unclipped their bracelets and were about to taking a running start at the monster when a familar voice startled them.

"Hey guys, need some help?"

It was Chuck.

"Wait, how did...You didn't come down with us!" Jeff wondered, confused.

"Figured I'd see what was going on. Gerard and the others are fine, they're in the lobby." he replied, beginning to bend the moisture in the air, enough to form a water whip he could fight with.

"ARE YOU GUYS DEAF?" Frank yelled again, sounding at little more freaked out then normal.

"Now, I think if he remembers he can summon fire, he'll be fine." Chuck said, waving off his cry for help.

"But you two, on the other hand, you need a scare."

Jeff and Ray both looked at each other. Something didn't seem right. This wasn't Chuck. But that meant-

"Carden." Jeff spat, shaking his head.

"It's another stupid illusion," Ray agreed, "But how the hell do we-" Suddenly he was cut off, making a gurgling noise. Jeff looked at him and saw his mouth had filled with water, and he was choking. He looked at 'Chuck', whose gaze was focused on Ray's throat.

Jeff suddenly knew why 'Chuck' was doing this. Onis like Ray and himself were terrified of water, feared drowning more than anything else. What better way for Carden to torment them with the illusion of a waterbending friend being the one to kill them?

"FINE! I'LL JUST- oh, hey, I'm such an idiot! I can summon fire!" Frank realized, small fireballs appearing in his hands as he charged at the gigantic spider. The same time he did this, Jeff went for the illusion of Chuck. Just as Jeff's fist was about to hit Chuck, the trio was engulfed in a bright light and then everything went black.

When the trio opened their eyes, they were outside! Gerard and Mikey came running up to them, having obviously been expelled from the building in a similar fashion.

"What the hell happened to you guys?" Jeff managed to ask, still shaken by the sight of Chuck drowning Ray.

"Carden's illusions. You guys get hit too?" Frank and Ray nodded along with Jeff.

"I hope Seb and the others aren't dead...these illusions are really works of twisted art," Jeff added.

The others could only nod in agreement.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Speaking of Seb and the others, the other members of Simple Plan had their hands full.

Seb, David and Pierre had taken one elevator down together, Chuck taking the other by himself.

"I swear to god, this is like that Scooby-Doo episode we did, except we can see it!" David yelled, turning to avoid running into a wall.

"Passons sur le fait, courez!" *Never mind that, run!* Pierre yelled back, just as the creature turned to go after him.

"What's with you switching all of a sudden?" Seb asked, trying to decide if he should confront this monster head on or let the other two bend it into submission.

"Je pense que je pourrais mourir, okay?" *I think I might die, okay?* he replied, trying not to laugh despite being in his current situation.

"Yeah, we all might if one of us doesn't do something." David chastised as he bended a gust of air at the creature, distracting it from its current path.

"Wait, why is this even here? I mean…this isn't the hospital we were just in," Seb added.

"Well," Pierre started, bending a suitable canopy of ground to keep the beast from impaling them, "Who else do we know that wants us dead?"

"Beckett."

"And how does he do things?"

"This is probably another one of those- oh, crap, guys, we've got company!" Seb yelled, dashing around the cover and jumping at the beast, intending to claw its eyes out.

Suddenly, everything went black.

"Illusions." Seb finished, panting slightly. How the hell were they outside? And more importantly, where were the others?


	47. When The Sun Goes Down 19

Meanwhile, Chuck had his own problems. He stood in a deserted hallway, but he wasn't alone. There appeared to be all his friends around him.

"You didn't learn waterbending from a master," Pierre was saying, "You're not a real waterbender."

"What do you know, Mr. I Can Make Rocks Fly Into People's Heads?" Chuck asked in response, still a little shocked his friend would say something like that.

"Oh, just that I can name tons of drummers that are better then you, shall I start?" Jeff threw in, laughing at the hurt written across Chuck's face.

What the hell? Jeff's remark took Chuck back a few steps. He, being a perfectionist, wouldn't settle for being told someone was better then him if it was something he was doing wrong.

"Shut up. I'm perfectly fine."

"Ha. Y'know, we should like, during practice, if anyone messes up or you drop a drumstick you'll have to do pushups," Seb suggested.

"That way we could all watch you." David added smiling, voice a little too cheery to be the David Chuck knew. That's when it hit him.

He'd taken the elevator down by himself. There was no-one else with him. But if he was alone - his friends were an illusion!

Taking his pick of who he wanted to make disappear first, he settled on Jeff, for the drummers being better than him comment had really hit he.

Lauching himself at the illusion of Jeff, he stopped short, bending a water whip from the skein he kept at his side. What better way to take them out when they themeselves had said he didn't know what he was doing?

As Chuck went to sweep across the group with the stream of water, he lost his focus and realized everything had changed. He was outside now, and he found Jeff and Seb running towards him.

"You alright? We though you were dead!"

"Uh, you guys weren't just in there with me, were you?"

"No, why?"

"Because you kept saying things to me and I was getting ready to kill you all..." he explained, still slightly confused. But as he saw Gerard and two of his friends and Gerard's brother, he realized this had been nothing but a huge trap.

"Carden?" he asked, suprised he had figured it out so quickly.

Everyone present nodded.

"So who we waiting for?" Pierre asked, interrupting the moment of quiet.

"Just Bob, looks like it. And maybe Amelia, if the doctor let her g- wait, that's not a real hospital. What if she's in there?" Mikey answered, before starting to freak out.

"Calm down, I'm sure she'll be able to handle whatever Carden throws her way...Bob'll be fine as well. Let's just wait for them." Gerard reasoned.

Bob looked around the empty corridor, making sure that there weren't going to be any final surprises before he left Amelia. Oh, how wrong he was.

He stepped onto the elevator and pressed the button for the lobby. At first, it was a nice, slow descent, but suddenly, the elevator went shooting towards the floor! Bob's legs buckled underneath the sudden increase in speed and gravity. Eventually though, the lift stopped and Bob was able to exit.

The first thing he noticed was his surroundings. It wasn't the nice and clean hospital he had been in just moments before. This seemed different. The walls were crumbling and there was a scent of death and decay so strong that even he could smell it, and he didn't have a super strong sense of smell. It was pretty dark and Bob guessed that there wasn't electricity.

"Lumos," he whispered and his hand glowed with light. He walked cautiously, not sure of what to expect. As he walked down the hallway, he heard footsteps following behind him, but every time he turned around, there was no one there. It wasn't until he actually saw something run in the corner of vision that he fired off a spell at it. As he was about to cast another spell, he heard a voice.

"Robert?" called a voice. It was a female voice and it sounded familiar. It sounded like...

"Laura?" he answered, but received no reply. "Laura, where are you?"

"I'm in here, Robert," she answered and Bob followed the sound of the voice. He walked into a room and saw his wife Laura, standing in the corner. He was instantly filled with all sorts of emotions.

Her blonde hair fell in a wave of curls down her back. She was wearing the same outfit that she had when she died, a green polka dot wrap dress with a feathered hat.

She was leaning against a wall, smoking a long cigarette.

"Laura, what are you doing here?" Bob asked as he walked closer to his wife.

"I've been waiting for you, Robert," she said as she turned her back to him. He reached out to brush her hair from her neck, as if to reaffirm that she was actually there, that she was solid and real. To his surprise, she was. If he concentrated enough, he could smell her perfume. It perturbed Bob to no end. Where was he? Was he in some sort of heaven or hell?

He was drawn out of his thoughts by Laura, who turned to face him when he touched her.

"Why did you do it, Robert?" she asked as he gently stroked her cheek with his thumb.

"Do what, honey?" he asked, his eyes filling with tears because he already knew what she was talking about.

"Why did you kill me?" she whispered, and it chilled Bob to the bone. He trembled. He was at a loss for words.

"I, I, I don't know. I didn't mean to do it, honey, I swear. I don't know what came over me," he stuttered.

"But that doesn't explain why! Why did you do it, Robert? Why? Why? Why? WHY?" she screamed as she walked away from him.

Bob was about to go after her, when he noticed something. When she had said the word "why", her voice was different. It no longer sounded like the Laura that he had known. The voice was slightly deeper and had a sarcastic undertone.

"Hm, yes indeed. The ever popular "why" question. WHY did you do it? WHY didn't you try and stop yourself? Well, Robert? WHY?" asked a voice from behind him.

Bob gasped as he turned around. Sure enough, standing behind him was none other than Jon Walker. Laura was gone.

"Wow, and I really thought you were smart for a wizard. 'Why, Robert? Why did you kill me?'" Jon asked, his voice now sounding like Laura's again.

"No, it can't be," Bob said,his voice trailing off.

Before he knew what had happened, Jon Walker rushed forward and pinned him to the wall by his throat. The two were evenly matched in height, though Jon was far stronger. He laughed at the pained expression on Bob's face and the tears that had welled up in his eyes at the thought that his wife had never really been there.

"So tell me, Robert, how does it feel, knowing that you killed your own wife? How does it feel to know that you are the only one responsible for her death?" Jon asked as he squeezed Bob's throat harder.

"I'm...not the only...guilty one. You...you..." he choked out.

"Me? What about me? I didn't do anything wrong. The only thing I ever did was love a woman who didn't love me back. Is that so wrong?"

"You...you're a...monster," Bob said, though it was difficult.

"And you're any better? You're the one who cast the spell!" Jon insisted.

This remark made Bob angry. He regained his focus and blasted Jon away with a spell. Jon fought back valiantly and managed to hit Bob several times. Bob though, refused to give in. Just as he was going to finish Jon off, the scene around him began to fade away.

"We'll continue this later," Jon said before everything disappeared.

When Bob looked around again, he didn't know where he was. He was outside and he couldn't see anyone. The only thing he could do for a few moments was stand and cry as he tried to process what had just happened. He knew that whatever it had been, it hadn't been real, but that didn't make it any better.

Eventually, he was able to collect himself and he walked until he heard people. He managed to find the group, who were glad to see him. It seemed that everyone had made it out mostly all right. There was only one question left on everyone's mind.

"Hey guys, where's Amelia?" Seb asked.


	48. When The Sun Goes Down 20

Amelia ran, out of breath, trying to get away from the things she was seeing. Were the boys seeing the same things?

"_Come little children, I'll take thee away, into a land of enchantment, _

_Come little children, the time's come to play, here in my garden of shadows…" _a female voice sang, and then a giggle from the dark corner of the hallway caused Amelia to turn around, eyes scanning for anything that might jump out at her. She thought she saw a figure flit around at the edge of her peripheral vision, but when she looked around there was nothing there.

"Ne vous venir jouer? J'attends, Rae-rae…Tu n'as pas peur de l'obscurité, non?"

"AJ, knock it off. You know I know it's you. Show yourself!" Amelia yelled, hoping to seem braver the she felt. Running into her in the sort of building they were in couldn't be a good sign. And if AJ was here, it meant Beckett wasn't too far away.

"He's not here. It's just us. Isn't this great?" she cheered, stepping into the flickering light from a dying bulb overhead. At once Amelia realized she looked different. Her eyes seemed to have more life, and she looked more herself.

The noticeable bump Amelia had been able to see was no longer there, and in conclusion, she realized her first instinct had been right all along.

"So…" Amelia started, wishing she had at least some sort of weapon on her, "What happened to you? Finally let them kill it and get you back to normal?"

She almost smiled at the hurt registering in AJ's eyes, but then saw her friend smirk.

"I can't believe you fell for that. It wasn't real. Like William's said, there's nothing smoke and mirrors can't cover up. But we had everyone playing along…you should have seen the fights he and Mike got into over even continuing the illusion! William was convinced it would kill me in the end, which is why that little scene before our fight worked so well. Really made it believable, didn't it?"

Amelia was too busy trying to figure out what was within her reach that she could grab to attack the hybrid with.

"You're really shallow, AJ. All that, just to stay with him? You didn't have to punch me, you know."

She shrugged, "Hey, you play the game; you have to know the territory. Didn't think William was going to grab me though. "

"You think I wanted Gerard to stop me? I was about to rip you apart!"

AJ snorted, as if she'd been expecting that reply.

"Right…well, Mademoiselle i ne l'aurait pas fait de toute façon, Here's your chance. " she taunted, smiling.

"No boys to stop us? I think," Amelia nodded, itching for a fight, "I'll take it."

"You're funny. Never thought this is how it would end. Be if that's how it's gonna go, so be it." AJ reasoned, taking off the bracelets she wore, along with her headband, leaving blonde curls to spill down around her face.

"Don't want to wreck these, I'll never hear the end of it." She said softly, setting them down on the ground. When she looked up where Amelia had been standing, she wasn't there!

"Really going to be that way, are we? Can't we lay some ground rules first?" she wondered innocently, hoping to gain the upper hand from the get go.

"Like what? No weapons. I won't transform into the demon if you don't phase. Agreed?"

AJ nodded, it sure sounded like a fair enough fight.

"Fine by me. But bear this in mind…I've been bitten not once, but twice by two different powerful individuals. Don't think you have a chance of winning." She boasted, grinning to reveal her fangs.

Amelia just shook her head; she was getting just as confident as Beckett was. And without warning, began to run.

AJ easily blocked her first punch, rolling her eyes as she'd anticipated the strike.

"Predictable."

Aj's hand closed around Amelia's other wrist as she threw another punch. AJ crossed the older girl's arms and held them tight, smirking as Amelia's feet stomped at the ground, trying to free herself.

"First rule? Always have a backup plan, in case you get stuck in the unfortunate predicament you're in now."

"And AJ?"

"What?"

"Shut up." Amelia said, in turn twisting and kicking out, hoping to trip the other. AJ let go of her, and Amelia glared at her.

'_My Lady…if you need to fight, go ahead. I'm letting you have control." _She told the demon.

"_My child, if that is your will, I will ensure this monster does not live another day." _Illysha replied, causing Amelia to nod.

At once Amelia fell to the ground, the sheer agony of the possession taking over. She could feel her body bending at unnatural angles, and she though she heard what sounded like bones breaking, although it was hard to hear over how own heartbeat, pounding steadily in her ears.

As Amelia stood and stretched, Illshya's wings folding out behind her, she smiled. Now who had the upper hand?

"You bitch." AJ growled, crossing her arms and pouting, "You said you wouldn't turn into the demon. That's not fair!"

"Hun, are you really complainin'? I lied, so what….like you haven't before." The demon shot back, walking towards AJ, one clawed hand resting on her shoulder.

AJ winced slightly at the claws going through the knit bolero she wore. As long as it wasn't cashmere, she was alright with it.

"I lie to my advantage. What you just did didn't do you any good. See the trick is, to play it up until you know you have the upper hand. In this case, it's a moot point, because I can still kick your ass."

AJ snarked, closing her eyes momentarily, preparing to phase.

"If you want to play dirty, let's go. Let's see what those fangs and claws can really do. I'm not afraid of skinning that fur right off," Amelia replied just as fast.

Both girls blinked, and then, in a blur of shouts and pounding hearts, the two were at war.

Amelia had turned into the demon, AJ had phased into her wolf form. Each was trying to steadily pin the other down, and then land some sort of debilitating blow.

Amelia had hooked claws into AJ's shoulder, pulled them out and then lunged at the wolf, aiming to slash at her ankles, where it would hurt to move. All the while, AJ's jaws snapped at the large wings.

"Catching butterflies much?"

AJ opened her mouth again to growl, but seeing her chance, jumped and bit down hard on Illshya's wing as the demon swerved to lash out at the fur of her underbelly.

The demon gave a cry of pain as AJ followed animal instinct and shook, mentally smiling at the sound she was hearing. It sounded as though the feathers were tearing away from the flesh, the flesh itself ripping.

Dropping the injured demon, she stepped on her stomach, allowing her claws to rack across the soft flesh that wasn't covered by her armor. The sight of the blood appearing in thin lines made her mouth water, but she knew there'd be a better time to feed.

She looked into the demon's eyes, and she saw…pain? Anger? Sadness? Making the mistake of letting up her paw, she didn't move quick enough to avoid a kick to the chest, which caught her off balance and sent her flying back into the wall not ten feet away.

The demon grinned as the wolf hit the wall, an unmistakable crack being heard, and judging from the pitiful whimper she'd just heard, something was broken.

Walking toward the mess of fur laying unmoving by the edge of the wall, she knelt next to it, finding AJ's face, her fur around her muzzle turning red with blood. The wolf opened her mouth to growl, but Amelia was quicker, summoning a quick burst of hellfire and lightly touching AJ's nose.

"It's hurts, doesn't it?" she asked, one hand laying on what would have been AJ's cheek in human form.

Amelia curled her fingers, watching the wolf's eyes widen in pain.

"Get used to it, you stupid mutt." 


	49. When The Sun Goes Down 21

It was too late before she realized what she'd said, who she'd sounded like. She didn't have time to ready herself for AJ's reaction. At once the wolf tried to stand, her jaws opening in a low howl as her paws slashed the air, trying to hit the girl in front of her.

Amelia cursed as one of AJ's paws came across her face, the nail leaving a nice scratch just below her eye. Had she aimed a little higher, Amelia would have been blinded.

"Fine. Your choice." she said through gritted teeth, summoning the hellfire again, heating her hands before forcefully wrapping one around AJ's snout and lower jaw like a muzzle. As she did this, her other hand went to rest on the wolf's ear.

Knowing why she felt like being so sadistic towards her ex best friend, she decided to shake her up a little more and bring memories. Gently rubbing the soft down-like fur on her ear, Amelia almost smiled. Maybe AJ was right, that she and Carden thought the same. Because honestly, as Amelia thought, she realized not only had she'd copied his exact words, she was also torting the same way.

"Don't worry girl, this won't hurt." she started, her smile growing as AJ's eyes widened, remembering.

"Much." she added darkly as she removed the hand keeping the wolf's mouth closed, that hand moving to slash a suitable gash in one of AJ's calves, the hand on her ear pinching it as the wolf howled in pain.

"See? It's not.." her other hand, nails red with AJ's blood, joined the one on her ear, "So bad, is..." here her hands tugged at AJ's ear, claws sinking into the thin layer of flesh, satisfied to see it tear, and blood to seep into the blonde fur. "It?"

AJ didn't make a sound, she didn't want to show weakness. Didn't want to acknowledge she'd been beat. But, oh, how everything hurt!

She could barely manage to keep quiet, eyes blazing with pain and rage. Unable to hold back a whimper, she felt sick when she saw the smile on Amelia's face. The demon's wings had retreated, and Amelia was back in human form, blood visible in several cuts, her normally neat braid undone.

Amelia stood up, looked at the bloodied mess she created.

"I think I'll leave you. Maybe, if your precious Bilvy comes, he'll value you enough to put you out of your misery. Nighty-night, sugar." Amelia said slowly, bending down to ruffle the fluff between AJ's ears, like she was a dog, not a wolf. And just to further humiliate the hybrid, she tipped AJ's head up, and lightly kissed her muzzle, crinkling her nose at the slight taste of blood against her lips.

Standing up again, she looked at the wolf one more time.

"It didn't have to be this way. Just remember that, when he finds you. If he finds you."

And with that, Amelia walked back down the way she'd came, the elevator signal already lit.

She took the elevator down, and thankfully, there were no more surprises, other than the fact that the building they had been in wasn't really a hospital. It was just a decrepit, old building. As the elevator made its slow journey back down to the "lobby", Amelia's head started to spin. AJ had really done a number on her. She was bleeding in several spots and it was difficult to see straight. When the lift finally came to rest, it took Amelia a moment to steady herself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ryan, Jon, Spencer?"

The three youngest vampires nodded at their names as William addressed them.

"When did you last see Brendon?"

All three looked at the floor before Jon spoke.

"He was helping Mike. That's the last I saw of him, anyways."

William blinked, and turned to begin to pace the hallway of the decrepit building.

Everyone was quiet for a few minutes. Then, Brendon came walking down the stairs, humming something with a glimmer of pride in his eyes.

William almost ran up to him.

"Why are you not where you're supposed to be?"

"I just wanted to watch Gerard's group squirm. Mike really did a number this time around, I don't think they'll ever-"

At this point, William's worry had gone to his head, and he grabbed the collar of Brendon's dress shirt, fighting the urge to hold him up against the nearby wall.

"Where is Mike? I told him to meet us here in precisely twenty minutes, regardless of Gerard's is late." William said, dark eyes continuously looking around for any sign of the dark haired vampire.

"Look, if I knew, I'd go find him. Why are you so...freaking out? It's not like he's dead," Brendon pointed out, causing William to glare.

"He's not who I'm worried ab-"

At that moment, a drained looking Mike Carden staggered down the steps Brendon had come down not five minutes before.

Brushing his black bangs out of his face, the first thing Mike noticed was the look Brendon was giving him.

Somebody was in a shit load of trouble.

"Hey William, the illusions worked. We should probably go hunting tonight before we had back, I feel like I'm gonna pass out. I've never had to focus so much in my life."Mike started, expecting the worst.

William slowly turned around, lip slightly curling into a snarl. Something was wrong, and he wasn't too thrilled.

"Mike, you wouldn't have any idea where Adeline is, would you?" William asked, voice tinged with something the younger vampire had never heard in it before.

It almost sounded as though he was genuinely worried for her.

"No, I wish I did. But I believe keeping an eye on her was," he looked at Brendon and smiled, "Brendon's job, wasn't it?"

Brendon mouthed 'screw you' and flipped him off but when William turned to him he straightened up.

"So…Brendon…have you seen Adeline?"

The native Vegas vampire shook his head, "I'm sorry….she begged me to let her on the elevator, to go after that demon. I knew I shouldn't have let her…"

"You didn't stop her?"

"I thought you wanted her to fight. She's on the top floor…" Brendon supplied, hoping he could avoid the elder vampire's anger if things did indeed be as bad as he imagined.

"Well, then we find her. Ryan, Spencer, Jon – do fetch us snacks for when we return home, would you? We should be home in roughly forty-five minutes…"

The three nodded as William ran for the elevator, Brendon and Mike in tow.


	50. When The Sun Goes Down 22

AJ turned her head at the sound of the elevator door opening. All she could hear was a ringing in her ears, and the taste of blood wouldn't leave her mouth. She was still in her wolf form, having no energy to phase back.

Her single good ear perked up at familiar voices, and she tried to howl, let them know where she was. Even that was harder said than done.

As William, Mike, and Brendon stepped off the elevator, their gaze was instantly drawn to the large mass of fur underneath a flickering bulb. It was AJ.

Mike and Brendon looked at each other, the 'hope she's not dead, otherwise we are' look obvious. William, on the other hand, took off at a slight run, collapsing to his knees besides the injured wolf.

She feebly lifted her head to lick at his hand, her muzzle stained red with dried blood. Her hazel eyes begged for any reassurance that things were okay, and as he looked her over he saw the demon really had left wounds.

"It's okay….you're okay…" William started, shrugging of his jacket and rolling up his sleeve, biting his wrist. Holding his arm out to her, he wasn't surprised to see her eyelids flutter closed as her tongue snaked out to lap at his wrist.

"Jesus, William, what happened?" Brendon asked eyes wide at AJ's mangled form.

"Seems the demon fought a little harder than I expected. We'll wait here until she phases, and then I'm going to need help."

"How?" Mike asked, equally startled by her appearance.

"See all the dried blood on her? The way she's laying, it's safe to assume at least a few ribs are broken. There's a large cut in her calf here, she won' be able to walk. Her ear is torn as well…" he started, his hand gently stroking the fur on her face, noticing claw marks here and there.

She opened her mouth to whine, but instead no sound came out. Then, she felt the adrenaline. It wouldn't be long before her wolf form faded. And shortly thereafter, all she saw was black.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Amelia walked out of the elevator and out of the doors. She looked for the guys and found them about twenty yards off. She stumbled over towards them, trying to not fall over.

"Mimi, are you okay?" Chuck asked upon seeing her.

"What happened?" Seb asked immediately after.

"Well, let's just say that AJ found me and we got into a little fight. Don't worry though, she's worse off than me. I really messed her up," Amelia said as she stared at the ground, trying to focus on something so that the world would stop spinning.

Suddenly though, the world turned upside down and her heartbeat thudded in her ears. She swooned and fell over. Gerard was right there though, and caught her with ease.

"Come on, Mimi, we need to get you back to the hotel so that Bob and Chuck can take a look at you," he said as he picked her up bridal style and gently cradled her in her arms.

"You're not going anywhere!" exclaimed a voice.

Everyone turned in the direction of the voice. Standing in front of them were Beckett and his men. Beckett was holding AJ in a similar fashion, though she looked far worse than Amelia did.

"You're going to pay for what that little demonic bitch did to Adeline," Beckett said venomously.

He handed AJ off to Brendon, who took her gently in his arms.

Beckett took a running start at the group, intending to destroy them. His anger was making his telekinetic powers tangible and the energy came in the form of black bursts of energy. Before he could do anything, Pierre stepped forward, his right leg bent slightly and his back leg straight. He raised his hands up in the air and the earth beneath his feet responded by forming a giant wall of earth.

Beckett ran around the earth wall, but Pierre was smarter than that. He quickly lowered his hands as if he were signaling a symphony to cut off and the earth turned into quicksand below Beckett's feet. He struggled, but could not get free. Pierre took the opportunity to launch a boulder at William. It crashed into him and sent him flying.

Determined, he got back up again and this time, used a whip of telekinetic energy to redirect one of Pierre's boulders towards the group. Pierre safely destroyed the rock before it hit anyone and at that moment, David smiled knowingly at Pierre and disappeared.

He reappeared behind Beckett and tripped him. He landed on his hands and knees and this time, Pierre turned the earth into quicksand again and Beckett stayed there.

The three newer vampires were ready to avenge Beckett. The one named Spencer tried to fight them, but Jeff easily tackled him and knocked him unconscious. Ryan used telekinesis to pick up one of the boulders and throw it towards Pierre, but David used his Airbending to redirect the boulder back at him. He narrowly dodged it. He then tried to fight using the Firebending that he had stolen from Chislett against David. David, however, was too fast for him. He ran circles around him, literally and, when the time was right, he summoned a huge gust of wind and blew him away.

Carden stepped forward to try and do something, though it was obvious he was exhausted. Chuck decided to join in on the fun and used his Waterbending to gather up all of the moisture in the air. For once, he was thankful for all of the humidity. He turned the water into a giant stream and bent it at Carden, who was too tired to move. Chuck froze the water to the ground, leaving him trapped.

Just when Jon Walker was going to use his special powers to manipulate the situation, Sebastien ran at him and tackled him to the ground. He clawed across his chest, leaving a nice gash. He turned to the others, who were staring at Sebastien's friends in amazement.

"What are you guys just doing, standing there? Go on, get out of here!" Sebastien yelled.

"No, we're not leaving you!" Ray declared.

"No, it's fine. Go! Run! Save yourselves, we'll hold them back!" Sebastien exclaimed.

Gerard, knowing it was pointless to argue nodded and took off running. The others followed behind him.


	51. When The Sun Goes Down 23

They made it quickly back to the hotel. Gerard laid Amelia on the bed and Bob, shaken as he still was, steadied his hands and began to assess her injuries. She was bleeding badly in several spots and there was a huge bruise on her back. She explained what happened as best she could, and when she said one of the demon's wings had been injured, Bob understood why her back was bruised.

He healed her the best he could, but she would still need Chuck to look at her when he got back. Amelia said that the fight had exhausted her, so Bob gently closed the doors that separated the large room from the other half of it and sat down to talk to the others.

Gerard was sitting in a high-backed chair, his head in his hands. Mikey was pacing around, talking to himself. Frank was laying on a bed, his arm stretched across his forehead, resting. Ray was watching Bob as he got a bottle of water from the mini-fridge and drank some of it. When he offered it to Ray, he looked at Bob like he was crazy and had just asked him to gargle liquid nitrogen.

"So," Bob started, unsure of what to say. He didn't know what kinds of illusions Mike had prepared for the others, but whatever it was, it mustn't have been good if everyone was reacting in this way.

"Yeah," Frank replied from the bed.

The silence that resulted was almost deafening.

Finally, Gerard got up and put a hand on his brother's shoulder. Mikey turned to look at him and there were tear stains on his face.

"Mikey, when we were in the "hospital", what did the illusion of Sara mean when it said you killed her?" he asked, trying to understand his brother's misery.

It was another moment before Mikey composed himself and took a deep breath.

"That day," he started, his voice shaking, "Mom told me that I had to watch Sara. There had been reports of savage vampires in the forests by our house and she didn't want her going in there."

Gerard nodded, vaguely remembering something like that happening.

"Anyway, I didn't want to watch her. It was close to a full moon and I was so damn antsy and irritable. Some of my friends and I were going down to the creek that night for a swim, try and run off some energy, you know? She kept following me around and it really irritated me, so I told her to get lost. She ran off and I lost track of her. When you came and found me and said that Mom wanted me and Sara to come back so that she could eat before we went out hunting, I freaked out. I didn't know where she was."

"So you panicked and went to the first place you knew she would go if she wanted to get away?" Gerard asked and Mikey nodded.

"I only hoped that I was right and that she had gone to the forest. By the time we got there, well, you know what happened next. God, Gee, if only I hadn't been so stupid and yelled at her, maybe she'd still be here! Maybe I wouldn't feel like such a failure as a brother!" Mikey exclaimed.  
>"Mikey, don't blame yourself for what happened. You couldn't have known that something like that would have happened to her. You're not the one who killed her - Mike Carden is," Gerard said and Mikey turned away from him.<p>

"Yeah, and you're not the one who has to live with the guilt. If I hadn't been so stupid!" he muttered.

He walked out onto the large balcony and slammed the door. Gerard turned to look at his friends with a sort of ashamed look.

"I'm sorry about him. He's just...a little shaken up, that's all," he explained. Everyone nodded because they too, were going through some kind of hell.

Gerard decided to take matters into his own hands. He used the hotel phone and called his mom. He explained the situation and asked for his mom's opinion. After a few moments, she explained that Mikey had told her what had happened but he had left before she could say anything. She said that she didn't blame Mikey at all for what happened. There was no way to know how things could have turned out. Gerard, relieved to hear this, thanked his mom and hung up.

"Well?" Ray asked, the first word he spoke in almost an hour.

"My mom doesn't blame him for what happened. It's the same thing I said, but he's too stubborn to listen," Gerard replied.

Everyone nodded. It was quiet for a moment before Sebastien and his friends burst through the door!

"Hey guys, we're back!" David yelled, and Seb whacked him upside the head.

"Dave, you're being too loud. Shut up," he said, while gesturing to Amelia who was resting. Gerard and the others got up and went to meet them.

"Are you guys okay?" Bob asked.

"Oh yeah, we're fine! Never better," Pierre said with a huge grin.

"And Beckett?" Gerard asked.

"We easily took care of him. They ran away like scared little wussies!" Chuck said, beaming.

"Good job, guys! If it was so easy though, what took you guys so long?" Frank asked, sitting up.

"Well, after our victory, we decided to stop somewhere -" Jeff started before David interrupted him.

"WE GOT ICE CREAM!" he yelled, laughing and holding up a large paper bag. ***priceless***

At the mention of ice cream, or because of David's yelling, Amelia opened her eyes and sat up. Seb glared at him for waking Amelia up.

"Ice cream? I love ice cream!" she said, wincing slightly as she tried to rearrange herself on the bed.  
>"Are you okay?" Chuck asked.<p>

"Well, I managed to heal most of the lacerations, but she has a really bad bruise on her back that I couldn't get rid of," Bob explained and Chuck nodded.

"Okay, everyone else, go in there while I heal her," Chuck instructed and everyone else went into the other half of the room. Before he left, David took out a huge dish of chocolate ice cream with cookie dough pieces and set it on the table next to Amelia. He smiled and winked at her and she smiled in return.

Chuck turned on the water in the sink and let it get warm. Not hot, but warm enough to soothe.

"Okay Mimi, if you have a bruise on your back, I'm going to need to see it. Do you mind taking your shirt off so I can look at it?" Chuck asked, forever a gentleman.

"That's fine," she replied. She gently removed her top and tied her long hair up so that it was off her neck. She turned away from him so that he could see her back.

He whistled at the sight of the bruise. It covered her entire left shoulder and it was an ugly mark. It was dark purple, though the edges had already started to yellow.

"Damn, that looks really bad. What happened?" Chuck asked as he moved his hands. He bent the water into a small stream and then concentrated it enough to fit over the entire bruise. He gently touched the water to the bruise and Amelia jumped at the initial contact. Eventually though, she relaxed into the water as Chuck began to repair things on the cellular level.

"Well, AJ and I got into a fight but she managed to hurt me while I was in the demon's form. She ripped one of Lady Illshya's wings, and it manifested itself as this giant bruise when I turned back," she explained.

"Oh, I see. Well, how does it feel now?" he asked as he removed the water from her back and inspected the wound. It had healed nicely.

"It feels great! Thanks," she said as she put her shirt back on.

"No problem," he replied.

Amelia got up and grabbed the ice cream. She joined Chuck in the other room with the rest of the guys. David handed her a spoon and she sat next to Sebastien and ate the ice cream.

After a few minutes, she looked around.

"Hey Gee, where's Mikey?" she asked.

He pointed at the door that led to the balcony.

"He's out there, sulking. When we were in the hospital, we saw an illusion of our sister and she  
>accused him of letting her die, which isn't true. I even called my mom and she said that no one was blaming him for Sara's death, but he refuses to listen. You can go and talk to him, but do it at your own risk," Gerard explained and Amelia nodded.<p>

She got up from her seat and walked out onto the balcony. She closed the door behind her.

"Go away, Gerard. I don't want to talk to you," Mikey said, his back turned to her.

"It's me," she said, but he didn't look at her.

He was standing against the railing, his arms folded on top of the rail, looking out into the dark sky.

She walked up next to him and followed his line of vision. She didn't see anything and frowned.

"What are you looking at?" she asked.

"I'm not looking, I'm just thinking. Thinking how I'm a horrible Lycan, I'm a horrible brother, just an all around not good person."

"Well, that's a load of crap. There's nothing wrong with you," Amelia refuted and he scoffed.

"And what makes you say that? I couldn't even protect my own sister, what makes you think I can keep you safe?" he asked, finally turning to look at her.

"That was then, Mikey, this is now. You need to stop living in the past and just forgive yourself. No one blames you for what happened to Sara. Not Gerard, not your mom...I'm sure Sara doesn't even blame you. It was an accident: something that no one could have seen coming."

"So?"

"So, that means you need to stop feeling guilty! No one blames you for Sara's death. You're the only one who blames yourself, and you shouldn't. As for me, you try your best to protect me, and that's all that I ask, and that's all that Lucian asks. So stop wallowing in your self pity! It's not your style. Plus, how can you be sad when I have chocolate ice cream with fudge cookie dough pieces?" Amelia asked as she waved her ice cream in his face.

Mikey had to smile. He stole Amelia's ice cream from her and ate some of it.

"You're right, Mimi, this _is_ good ice cream," he said with a smile.

The two of them walked back inside. Everyone was worried about what Beckett's next move would be, however, they decided that they would just enjoy their victory ice cream and go to bed. And they did just that.


	52. When The Sun Goes Down 24

When AJ opened her eyes again, she was back in the house, lying on the couch. She winced as she tried turning over, finding a hand on her side to stop her.

"You have to lie on your back, darling. If you switch positions too much, you're not going to heal right." William said gently, leaning in to kiss her.

"Wh-what happened?"

"Don't you remember, dear? You and the demon really got into it…you're lucky to be alive."

She tried to sit up, and to her surprise, he let her.

"Ow…ow…ow…" she panted softly, something didn't feel right.

"My guess is you hit a wall, because you had two broken ribs…they're almost healed now, thanks to Jon and Spencer getting enough blood…and Ryan's healing abilities."

"Oh…why does everything hurt so much?"

"You're still sore. Leftover adrenaline."

"Hm…" she sighed, closing her eyes before adding, "I never want to go through that again. That fight….she wasn't herself…she almost…it's like she was imitating Mike, back before he stopped trying to kill me," she explained, laughing although it hurt.

"Guess that just proves you're not the only one with a dark side. But after you completely heal, we need to plan. There's got to be a way to take down Gerard and his men for good."

Too tired to say anything else, AJ nodded, surprised she could still hear out of both ears. This time, sleep was a welcome friend.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning, AJ woke up, surprised to find nothing hurt at all. Stretching, she smiled when she heard her neck and back crack.

"You feeling any better?"

She turned to see Mike standing in the doorway of the living room, a couple blood bags in his hands.

"Catch."

Catching the B+ bag with ease, AJ sat up and then motioned to the cushion next to her.

"You can sit, you know. I'm not afraid of you anymore. Truth be told it's the demon that's more of a problem."

"Really? I heard about what you said she was acting like and all that...William says you said she was acting like me..." he trailed off, sitting on the couch next to her.

"Yeah. It's funny really, she even called me a mutt like you used to. But I think by now you know I'm anything but."

He nodded, ruffling her hair before adding, "You're just the family pet."

She lightly smacked his shoulder, rolling her eyes.

"That's not true and you know it. Now that you've stopped trying to kill me, you're kinda like the big brother I never had."

"Then what does that make me?" Brendon asked, walking in, apparently having heard most of the conversation.

"Uh..." AJ sighed.

Mike smiled, finishing her sentence for her, "You're the other older brother then. But I'm her favorite, right Adeline?"

AJ's head dropped and she mumbled some stuff under her breath.

"What was that?" Brendon asked, poking her nose, eliciting a death glare with a smile from the hybrid.

"I don't like being put on the spot...You're both amazing in your own ways, but since the whole illusion thing was pretty frickin' epic I'm going to have to agree with Mike. Sorry, Bren." she added, "But you carried me all the way home after Seb and his friends kicked our asses, so you're tied."

"But that doesn't answer my question!" Mike complained, sulking.

"Oh, get over it."

"Get over what, dear?" William asked, he too walking into the room.  
>"These two," AJ said with a smile, motioning to the vampires on either side of her, "Are arguing over who's the better older brother figure to me. Would you mind settling this debate?"<p>

William looked at the three and shook his head.

"If I were, I'm afraid world war three would start. I'll just leave that to you." he said smiling, and AJ could tell he was trying to a hide a laugh.

AJ got up and walked over to him, absentmindedly standing the way she always did with him, her arms around his waist and her head on his shoulder.

She heard him sigh contentedly, and then felt him kiss the top of her head.

"You okay?"

"Uh hm. I just...I never thanked you for two days ago...I thought I was dead, Amelia even said she thought you'd put me out of my misery..."

"Put you out of your misery?"

"She assumed you would pity me and kill me to end my suffering. But I got her good, I ripped one of those wings almost clean off!"

"That's good...and no, I'd never...she doesn't remember I wouldn't be able to, does she?"

"I think she's trying to avoid even thinking about anything that says it's alright for me to be with you, see, she still thinks I can turn good...I don't want to though...but on the other hand, what_ are_ we going to do about them?"

"That's what I came in here for; I've got a few ideas on how to handle this. And this time, they're not getting away."

Once all of the ice cream was done, the group sat around, talking. No one knew what to say, but they didn't want to hear the silence.

Amelia was sitting next to Sebastien. She was exhausted from everything that had happened. She laid her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. Before she knew it, she was sleeping, snoring softly. Seb chuckled as he picked her up gently and put her in bed. He closed the door and sat down to talk with the other guys.

"So, what do we do now?" Gerard asked.

Everyone shrugged.

"What about Lucian? Is he still in China?" Ray asked and Mikey and Sebastien looked at each other.

"Not sure. Let me call George," Mikey said as he got out his cell phone. He dialed George's number and waited for it to connect.

"Hey George, it's me, Mikey. Is Lucian back from China yet? Oh, he's not? He won't be back for another week? All right. Hang on," Mikey said as he got up and got a piece of paper. He wrote something down and hung up the phone.

"Well, George said that he won't be back for another week, but he gave me Lucian's cell phone number. I'll call him," Mikey said as he began to dial the number.

"Wait," Sebastien interjected and Mikey turned to look at him. "We've all been through enough today. Let's just rest and worry about Lucian tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay," Mikey sighed as he put the phone away. Everyone tried to sleep peacefully that night, but it was difficult to do with the memories of the illusions still dancing in their heads.

The next morning, Mikey called Lucian and put him on speaker as he and Sebastien explained the situation.

They recounted everything that had happened over the past few months, including Adeline going over to Beckett's side. When they were done, they held their breath, scared of what Lucian's reaction would be. For a moment, the Lycan leader was silent, which made Mikey and Sebastien all the more nervous. Finally, he spoke, his voice laced with anger and hatred, yet it was surprisingly calm.

"Tell me something, _Michael_, why does it always seem that whenever there's a situation, why am I always the last to know?" he asked and Mikey lowered his head in shame. Before he could say anything, Lucian continued.

"Even you, Sebastien. I would have thought that out of the two of you, _you_ of all people would have called me sooner. Well, I guess that's just something you have to learn as you age, right? I guess -"

"We're sorry, Lucian, we thought we could handle it," Mikey interjected apologetically.

"DON'T interrupt me," Lucian snapped and Mikey flinched at the irritation in his voice.

"As I was saying, I guess I shouldn't be so surprised that this has happened. Beckett _was_ the one who turned Adeline into a hybrid, so it's only natural that something like this would happen. When Remus first entrusted me with her care, he said that I must do whatever it takes to keep her safe. I fear that since she is so far gone, the only way she'll find peace is in death," he said and Amelia immediately interjected.

"No, no, no, no! There has to be another way!" she insisted.

"My lady, I know that you don't want to hear this, but think about it. She is with Beckett of her own free will. There is nothing we can do for her now. The only way for her to truly be free is to kill her. Think about it. If she were still on our side, would she want this for herself? Fraternizing with the enemy? I think not. You need to let her go. I know it's difficult, but this is the best way to help her," Lucian said, his tone softening.

"All right, if you say so," Amelia finally said, quietly.

"How do we kill her?" Gerard asked once everyone had settled down to listen.

"Well, as long as Beckett still lives, she cannot be killed. The logical thing to do would be to kill Beckett first. In order to do that, you must find his sire and kill them. Does that make sense?"

Everyone nodded, even though the Lycan leader could not see it.

"Do you know who sired him?" he asked.

"Lestat de Lioncourt," Amelia replied.

"I've heard that name before. Do you have any idea as to his current location?"

At that moment, the demon piped up in Amelia's head. _"Child, we are very fortunate to be in Louisiana. This was his home once he immigrated from France. Since he and I used to be "acquaintances" , I can sense his presence. He is in the state at this very moment."_

_"Thank you, my lady."_

"Lucian, according to the demon, he is here in Louisiana. We'll go and find him at once. Once we find him, we'll go after Beckett," Amelia said.

"So it's settled, then. Kill Lestat, then kill Beckett. After that, you'll finally be able to give Adeline the peace she deserves."


	53. When The Sun Goes Down 25

Amelia and the rest of the gang decided to go along with the demon's plan, so the next night, they went down the French Quarter to have a look around.

"Mimi, are you sure this is a good idea? I mean, what if there's more of those….things around?" Seb wondered, looking around for any signs of those zombie like things that had attacked her.

"I'm sure Illshya knows what she's doing. Now, I need you guys to let me wander off a bit, see if I can lure him out, okay?"

Mikey immediately protested.

"Let you wander? We're back where we started if you get bit again. I don't trust this place, not if Beckett knows anyone that lives here…"

"Mikey, I'll be fine. I promise. Just trust me!"

He went to speak again, but Gerard put a hand on his shoulder, "She'll be fine. She can always transform if she's in danger."

Reluctantly Mikey nodded, "Fine. But I'm still gonna trail you, just to keep an eye on you. I'm not letting you die like I let Sara Ann."

And with that, Amelia took off, intent on exploring the nearby bars and shops.

As she was looking over one of the street vendors selling gumbo and bowls of crawfish, she caught a twenty something blonde staring at her. He made her feel uneasy, but she couldn't figure out why.

_'My Lady, is that-" _She asked the demon.

_'Yes. Approach him cautiously, invite him for a drink, say you don't know the area very well.'_

Heeding the demon's advice, she nodded a thank you to the vendor and then turned to walk toward the vampire, noticing he was watching her.

"I saw you starin' and I can't help but wonder, you lonely tonight? Perhaps you'd join me for a drink?" she asked, looking up into gray eyes.

"Yes, that would be lovely. I'm looking for someone in this area anyways. Maybe you could help me find her?"

"Oh, so you're after a girl…your girlfriend run off?" she started, surprised by the ease of the conversation.

"Not quite like that…I'm looking for a demon in human form. I don't know what she looks like." Amelia's eyes widened.

_'My Lady, what do I say now?'_

_'Only what I tell you to from now on.'_

_'Okay. So..._You may not recognize me seein' I've changed hosts many times since our last meetin', by, Lestat, it's Illysha." Amelia said, the demon's words slipping off her lips.

"Lady Illshya…my, you've – you're a bit younger, yes I see it now. What brings you to New Orleans?"

"I'm visiting a friend of mine, she lives here. What have you done lately?"

"Oh, I've been…around, you could say. Killing has got easier with the way people consume alcohol around here, and it just so happens one of my sires happens to live in the area." He continued.

"Who's that? I only thought you had Claudia and Louis with you these days….or have they been killed?"

"Them? My dear, they're long ago betrayed me…but who I was visiting just yesterday, I'm sure you've met. Does the name William Beckett ring any bells?" Amelia tried to keep a straight face, but she couldn't help feeling her lip curl in a snarl.

"So I see you've met. I'm assuming the friend you were visiting is Adeline, yes?"

Amelia blinked. What the hell? If he knew about AJ…that meant Beckett had already talked to him, which meant Lestat could already be tipped off to the plan Lucian had suggested. Where the hell was Mikey when she needed him?

Once William was sure that Adeline was asleep, he too, closed his eyes and tried to sleep. Unfortunately, he was woken up in the next instant by screaming. The screaming was coming from one of the rooms downstairs. It was the room that Ryan shared with Spencer.

Sighing, William got up and went to investigate.

-

After William and Adeline both went upstairs, the other guys also did the same. They were still fairly exhausted, especially Ryan and Spencer. The two went into the room they shared, changed into pajamas, and tried to fall asleep.

Before long, Spencer heard Ryan start to snore lightly. He rolled over and sighed. He tossed and turned for an hour, but sleep would not come. It frustrated him to no end. His head began to ache. It started as a dull throb in one spot on his head that eventually spread to his entire head. He didn't think anything of it.

Suddenly though, the pain became intense. He opened his eyes and sat up. The pain was like thousands of tiny needles being driven into his skull. He tried to open his mouth to try and wake Ryan up so that he could do something, anything, to get rid of this awful pain. When he did, the only thing that came out was a scream.

He stood up and tried to walk, but he immediately fell over, clutching his head. It felt like his skull was splitting right down the middle. He squeezed his eyes shut as images started flashing in his mind.

_There was a man with blonde hair and grey eyes. He was talking to that demon girl. Suddenly, people came out of nowhere. It was Gerard and his men! The two Lycans ripped the vampire to shreds and Spencer felt every ounce of pain. Then the group began to walk and eventually, they reached the house. It was like Spencer was an observer, watching the scene from afar. He saw them approach the house and knock on the door. The moment that one of them opened the door, they pounced and tore everyone in house to shreds. He continued to scream, but he couldn't even hear anything. All he could hear was static ringing in his ears as the images slowly faded away. Then everything went black._

_-_

Ryan climbed into bed after saying goodnight to Spencer and fell into a nice and peaceful sleep. Suddenly, he was roused out of his sleep by the sound of screaming. He bolted upright and looked over at Spencer, who was out of bed. He tried to get up and walk, but he immediately fell to the ground.

Ryan leaped out of bed and tried to comfort his friend. He knelt down next to him as he started shaking. His screaming only got louder.

"Spencer! Spencer! It's me, Ryan! Spencer? Are you okay? SPENCER!" he yelled, trying to be heard over his friend's screams.

He rolled Spencer onto his back, unsure of what to do. The door behind him was thrown open as William, Mike, Brendon, and Jon rushed in.

"What's wrong?" William asked as he knelt down next to the screaming vampire.

"I, I, don't know. I was sleeping and he just started screaming. What's happening to him? Why hasn't he stopped screaming?" Ryan stuttered. Spencer had had visions before, but he'd never screamed for this long. Ryan didn't know what to think. He looked at Brendon, who shrugged.

"Wow Brendon, you don't even know what's wrong with him? Some sire _you_ are," Mike remarked and Brendon hissed at him.

William looked at the both of them. "Enough. Since he is clairvoyant, he is probably having a vision."

Everyone nodded. Eventually, Spencer's screaming got quieter and it was eventually reduced to nothing more than the occasional whimper. Ryan scooted forward and brushed his friend's sweaty bangs off of his forehead.

"It's okay, Spence, it's okay. Just come back to us. Come back to us," he murmured, sweet nothings to try and keep himself sane.

One of the older vampires ran to get a washcloth and they placed it on his forehead.

Spencer began to stir a few minutes later.

**-**

Slowly, Spencer began to regain consciousness. He first gained his sense of touch. He was laying on a hard surface that was definitely not his bed and there was something cold on his forehead.

He opened his eyes and everything was fuzzy. He could see forms sitting above him and for a second, he didn't know what to think. Then his vision cleared and he was looking into the concerned eyes of one Ryan Ross.

"Ryan? What happened? I feel like I got hit by a truck," he muttered groggily.

"You had a vision. What do you remember? Can you sit up?" William asked, sitting next to Ryan.

Spencer took Ryan's outstretched hand and gently sat up. He massaged his temples as one of the other vampires offered him a glass of water and some aspirin. They let him sit in silence for a few moments before William prodded him again.

"Spencer, do you remember what you saw?" William asked.

He looked at William, his eyes wide as the memories came flooding back.

"Death," was all he said, barely a whisper.

"Who?"

Spencer took a deep breath and another sip of water before continuing,

"I saw your sire, Lestat. He was talking to the demon girl. They were alone, from what I could tell. Then, they attacked. It was the two Lycans. They ripped him to shreds, and I felt it! I felt every claw, every bite! They killed him!" Spencer yelled as his breathing began to increase.

Ryan put a hand on his shoulder to try and calm his friend, but it didn't help. He looked at Jon pleadingly. Jon knelt down and looked Spencer in the eyes.

"Spencer, listen to me. You have to calm down. Just take a deep breath. Everything is all right. You need to tell us EXACTLY what you saw, okay? Can you do that?" Jon asked, his voice calm.

Spencer's breathing slowed and he nodded.

"All right, so Gerard and his men killed my sire. What happened next?" William asked.

"Then they walked out of wherever they were. They came here next. None of us survived. I have a feeling that we're next," Spencer admitted.

His words chilled Beckett to the bone. If Gerard and his men had killed Lestat, they could now kill him. And if they were truly on the way to the house right now, everyone, including Adeline, was in danger. He needed to act fast.

"All right, if that's what you saw, that's what's going to happen. We need to prepare. Jon, you stay with Spencer so that he doesn't have another fit. Brendon and Ryan, you come with me. We are going to need all of the weapons we can find. Mike, I want you to keep watch. The moment you see them, you are to tell me immediately. I need to go get Adeline to safety," Beckett said as he got up and walked out of the room.


	54. When The Sun Goes Down 26

For being a vampire as old as he was, Amelia thought Lestat didn't put up much of a fight. Maybe it was because he knew he was outnumbered? The fight itself hadn't been that hard on anybody, between three benders, two onis, three vampires and two lycans, the group had taken the elder vampire down with ease.

Maybe he had finally accepted his fate, knowing he was going to die and figured it was time?

The stake had stuck in his body, but Amelia realized his body wasn't turning to dust like most vampire kills she'd delivered.

Before she had time to ask why, Mikey and Seb had picked up the vampire's body, heading into an area where not many people were around, where they could truly dispose of the they set the body down, they phased and began to tear it limb from limb, breaking it apart.

"Hey Gerard, why isn't he turning to dust?" Amelia asked, noticing Frank was juggling two small balls of fire across his palms.

"Well, he's an older vampire. There's a certain magic that protects us, if we're any older than 250 or something, I forget what age it is exactly, but, if you're over that age a stake alone can't reduce your body to ash. You have to burn it as well as staking, though typical hollywood myth these days recommends ripping the body apart and then burning it."

"Like we're doing now...and you said Twilight was stupid. Looks who's taking advice from sparkly fairies..." Amelia joked, seeing the firelight from the vampire's burning body reflecting in Gerard's eyes.

"I'm not taking advice, I'm just saying that's what most humans think they're going to have to do to kill us. They've got no idea that we prefer weapons to kill each other with."

"Right...but...so that Lestat's dead, that means we'll be able to kill Beckett now, right? I mean that's what Lucian said. You guys probably aren't up to going after them right away, so I'd think tomorrow night we go back to the house and kick their asses once and for all. And maybe burn the house down while we're at it, just because sometimes, a fire is a really pretty thing to look at."

She paused and laughed.

"What's that for?"

"Fire is a pretty thing to look at - I sound like AJ...she liked to set stuff on fire, loved taking a lighter to dreamcatchers and watching the flames spread over the wax coated twine..." she reminisced, remembering the one time AJ had almost burnt down her entire collection of Edgar Allen Poe poetry and HP Lovecraft books because she lit the dreamcatcher hanging beneath the books on fire.

"Yeah, spending a day getting ready for the final confrontation would be a good idea. It'll give you time to...prep yourself for what you...well, what Lucian said you have to do."

She sighed, "Don't remind me...That's the last thing I want to think about right now..."

Amelia fell quiet, listening to the crackle of the fire, remembering the Christmases she'd spent in front of fires and AJ's, staying up just to see if Santa was real, even though they were far too old to be believing in such a silly concept.

After the body had been sufficiently destroyed, the group headed back to the hotel, and set about getting ready for the final showdown with Beckett and his men the following night.

* * *

><p><em>"When I look into your eyes It's like watching the night sky<em>  
><em>Or a beautiful sunrise There's so much they hold…"<em>

AJ grumbled as she realized one of the boys was playing Jason Mraz on the stereo downstairs. It happened to be one of her favorite songs, so it was alright.

"Adeline dear, wake up…sweetheart, up. Now." William called softly. She sighed, her eyelids still closed. She could feel his fingertips tracing light patterns on her back, and then she felt him kiss her shoulder blade.

"Lemme sleep…hm…lev'me 'lone," she whined, rubbing at her eyes, turning over to kiss him good morning, only to be met with a sad smile.

"You wake me up and you're already dressed?" She stated, mildly annoyed at the sight of William already having a shirt on, although the top two buttons weren't done up. But then she noticed how quiet he was, how something seemed wrong.

_"And just like them old stars I see that you've come so far_  
><em>To be right where you are How old is your soul?"<em>

Sitting up slightly so she could lean over and kiss him, her fingers fastened the top two buttons.

_'What the hell? He's like Edward…is he dead?'_AJ thought, seeing as it seemed William had frozen into the kiss, became unresponsive.

She pulled back and bit her lip, looking around, unsure what was going on. She went to rest a hand on his face, but he grabbed it and instead looked into her eyes. She knew something was really wrong now, just from the look in his eyes.

_"I won't give up on us Even if the skies get rough I'm giving you all my love I'm still looking up.."_

"William, what's going on? Why are you li-" and before she could finish her sentence, he pulled her face to his, kissing her with a fervent passion that was both gentle and powerful at the same time.

"Adeline….it's Spencer. He's had a vision. Lestat's been killed, and…we're next. I can't lose you, Lestat told me to keep you around. I'm only doing this to keep you safe." He started, getting up and walking over to one of the dressers, where AJ saw a backpack was resting on top. William began opening the drawers of the dresser AJ knew her stuff was in, and watched with wide eyes as he started throwing stuff into the backpack, pacing back and forth.

"Wait, I don't understand!" She said, getting up, almost tripping over the sheets as she went to stand between the path he'd been taking from the dresser to the backpack.

"I know, darling. It's for the best." He said slowly, only causing AJ to step in front of him and stand on her tiptoes, her hands on his shoulders.

"William, tell me what the fuck is going on this instant! You're scaring me and I don't like it!" she yelled, and he noticed she had tears in her eyes and she was shaking slightly.

He sighed and picked her up, then sat down on the bed with her in his arms, cradling her as though she were a small child, still feeling her shaking. He took a deep breath as she nuzzled her head into the crook of his neck, and then spoke, as the stereo downstairs continued playing.

_"And when you're needing your space To do some navigating_  
><em>I'll be here patiently waiting To see what you find…"<em>

"I'm keeping you safe. That group, like you said, the demon with them, are heading right for our front door. From what Spencer saw, I don't want you part of that. Ever. If you do what I tell you to from now on, you'll be safe, dear, and no one will be able to get you. I'll come for you when it's all over, and then you and I will stop at a hospital and we can really make that child dream of yours come true," he explained, smiling as her glassy eyes lit up.

"R-Really? Y-You p-promise?"

He hoped she hadn't noticed him gulp, hoped she didn't realizing he was lying – if there ever was a time he regretted lying to someone, this would be it, and so, he replied,"I promise."

_"'Cause even the stars they burn Some even fall to the earth_  
><em>We've got a lot to learn God knows we're worth it No, I won't give up…"<em>

As the bridge of the song came up, William listened to the lyrics, wishing the song wasn't playing Something about it just made him realize how much he truly loved her, what he needed to do to protect her, sacrifice himself so he could prove he wasn't the selfish bastard everyone always thought he was.

_"I don't wanna be someone who walks away so easily_  
><em>I'm here to stay and make the difference that I can make<em>  
><em>Our differences they do a lot to teach us how to use The tools and gifts we got<em>  
><em>yeah, we got a lot at stake And in the end, you're still my friend at least we did intend<em>  
><em>For us to work we didn't break, we didn't burn <em>  
><em>We had to learn how to bend without the world caving in<em>  
><em>I had to learn what I've got, what I'm not and who I am…"<em>

He set AJ down on the bed and got up, calmly walking into the hall.

"BRENDON! TURN THAT STEREO OFF!" he barked suddenly, a certain edge to his voice AJ had never heard before now audible.

She shuddered; William really was acting….different. What was wrong with him, and what the hell was going on? She jumped as William came back into the room, slamming the door behind him, and for a moment, she half expected him to turn around and punch a hole through it. Immediately she backed up on the bed, so much so that she was against the headboard.

It wasn't until he looked into Adeline's eyes did William see the fear – that look of pure uncertainty and complete distrust returning to her irises, a look he hadn't seen in a little over five and a half years. It wasn't until then that he realized how much of an idiot he was.

Gently, he sat on the bed, not close to her, fearing she'd lash out, but just far enough to where he could still comfort her if she allowed him to.

"I'm sorry…that must have looked really bad," he started, almost laughing; AJ couldn't tell if he was trying to laugh or if he was holding back tears. She had curled her knees up to her stomach and had wrapped her arms around them, and she was staring straight ahead.

"William, what's going on?" she repeated, the falter in her voice making his heart break.


	55. When The Sun Goes Down 27

"Adeline…listen to me, and listen to me very carefully. This backpack, it's yours, and I'm packing enough of your clothes for at least a week. You need to get away from here; I don't want you here when that battle knocks on our door. You remember Harry Potter, right?" he started, coaxing her into a smile, "Yeah, why?"

"This is like when James tells Lily to take Harry and run so Voldemort doesn't get them…you need to be Lily and leave for a little while, and then I can tell you when it's alright to come back."

Her eyes widened, and then she got up and walked over to him, throwing herself into his arms, crying, realizing what he meant.

"NO! No! If it's like Harry Potter, and that's who we are, we die! I'm not letting you die, William! I can't! I'm not leaving you! " she wailed, her nails just about digging into his shirt with the way she was clinging to him.

"You must." He murmured, kissing her hair, afraid to look her in her eyes.

"Well, c-can't you c-come with m-me?" she stuttered, sniffling.

"Darling I wish I could…but you have to go alone. I'll give you Brendon's cell so you can still call if you need to, but you need to leave as soon as you're ready." He said softly, gently trying to ease her out of his arms.

"I'm s-st-staying here with y-you!" She cried, wrapping her arms back around him, although he tried to protest. He knew he could always resort to forceful physical contact to get her off him, but that was the last thing on his mind.

Getting her away was the last thing he wanted to be doing, he wanted just the opposite more than anything in the world. He wanted to be holding her, singing her to sleep, cradling as she cried about nightmares, not that she was being sent away - even if it was for her own safety.

He kissed her forehead, closed his eyes for a moment and thought. Did he really need to put that wall up again, to block emotion and become like ice? He didn't want to, but, he knew it was only thing that would make her see he was serious.

Sighing mentally, William opened his eyes, seeing her hazel ones glassy, tear tracks running down her face, her lip trembling.

"D-Don't. D-Don't say you're leaving me!" she pleaded, still clinging to him. He knew if he faltered now, it'd be too late.

"Adeline Jeanette Winters, if you don't let go of me in the next five seconds, I will make decisions involving you and a certain Mike Carden that I will forever regret," he said, voice stern.

"Bu-" remembering how he said someone else besides him would have to deliver the killing blow, reluctantly she let go of him, got up and walked over toward the backpack, zipped it up, threw it over her shoulder, opened the door and then stormed downstairs.

William sat on the bed, and dropped his head into his hands, and for the first time in about three hundred years, honestly felt like crying.

_'Adeline, I'll make this up to you, I swear. I know you can't understand what this is doing to me, but it's for your own good. I just hope you can see I love you...'_

Brendon looked up the minute he heard AJ's footfalls. Somebody was pissed off.

"Hey, calm down alright? I know William's all…unraveling, but that doesn't mean you have to be as well." He started, noticing the backpack and then her face.

"Don't tell me to calm down. You don't know what he just told me!"

"Well, what'd he tell you?"

The only answer he got was a glare, and then he remembered. Grabbing for his cell, he handed it to her.

"Alright, I get it. William said I'm to let you borrow this, in case you need to reach us. I know you don't want to hear this, but he's doing the right thing. He's not going to let you die, Adeline. You're the only person that's ever managed to pull emotions out of him none of the rest of us have seen before." He added as she nodded, he realized she was holding back tears.

"But I don't want to leave him…or the rest of you. Since Remus died, you guys…you're my family now. I can't watch you all die like he got killed…I found his body! I'd rather die alongside you!"

She was choking up again, this entire day just wasn't going well. Ryan came in from the kitchen, at least ten bags of blood in his hands.

"What the hell?" AJ asked, trying to not believe what she knew the point was.

"Open your backpack. This'll keep you covered for a few days, and then you can hunt."

She bit her lip and shook her head.

"Does he honestly think I'm leaving? It's going against everything Remus taught me…"

"Well then he taught you well." Ryan added, knowing girls sometimes learned the most powerful life lessons from their fathers.

"I mean it, Remus always told me never leave a comrade in battle, never turn your back when surprises still lurk just the shadow's edges, and most important of all, always remember to say I love you every–"

"time you leave because you don't know if you'll ever return." AJ's head snapped up as William finished her sentence as he walked downstairs, and the realization that he knew the same saying she'd lived her life by hit her hard.

Before she could stop herself, she ran and threw herself into his arms, not caring if he was on the steps.

"You learned it too? I've lived by that saying, and so far it's worked, I've always came back! I don't know how many times I can repeat this, but I don't want to leave!"

"I know you don't, but you have to."

"You keep saying that, but I'm not sure what you really mean. Wouldn't you rather have me die with you if the battle's really going to be as bad as you think? 'I know you don't, but you have to,' you make it sound as though you want me to suffer!" she challenged, almost rolling her eyes at Ryan's snicker, she knew the others knew she was the only one that could talk back to William and get away with it.

William didn't know what to say. No matter how many times he explained it, she was going to see it as abandonment.

"Adeline..." he sighed, "I know it won't matter how many times I say this, so I'll just put this in terms you'd better understand, put a bargain at the end so you'll listen."

She nodded, crossing her arms over her chest, "Go on."

"I want you to sit down though, I don't want you fainting on me."

"Fainting? What do you mean?"

"You'll see."

She threw the backpack to Ryan and almost ran to the couch, sitting down, eagerly awaiting William to explain himself.

"So...because in Spencer's vision, it doesn't end well, I'm deciding that if I have to make the choice to keep only one of us alive, it's got to be you. That's why I'm ordering you to get out of here, I don't know how long we have until the battle comes. And on the offhand chance that we manage to defeat the demon and her friends, I'll find you. Then, we'll find a church, and a hospital so we can steal a child you so desperately want."

"William, why would we need to find a ch-"

"Close your eyes." AJ did as she was told, already having a clue as to what was happening.

"We'd need to find a church because - well, darling, open your eyes."

She did, and immediately smiled at the sight of William kneeling on one knee in front of her, a small ring box in his outstretched palm.

"Adeline, that isn't the way I wanted to do this, I had planned for it to be far earlier, but I hadn't had the mind to do it until now. I still remember wiping your memory just about six years ago, and how easily you trusted me. I realize I had wanted you dead at one point, but you've taught me more about the missing part of myself - the connection I found back to whatever remaining part of my humanity I had left, I discovered it when I found you again at Slane. And that illusion, had I not decided to play on a grander level, I would have gladly gone along with your plans. We can do all that, and more after you come back, but first I need to know..."

Here he paused and smiled at her, and AJ swore, had her heart still been beating it would have stopped dead right there.

"Adeline Jeanette Winters, will you marry me?"

She blinked, not wasting any time in nodding yes furiously, smiling like an idiot. As William opened the ring box, she realized she'd seen that ring before - he'd found pictures of him and another girl, and the girl had been wearing the ring...wait, was this Christine's ring?

It looked absolutely amazing on her. The ring itself looked old due to the flowy script around the band, but it was still shiny, obviously it had been stored to maintain its mint condition. It was a white gold band with a single princess cut diamond in the middle, and the way it reflected light managed to take AJ's breath away everytime she looked at her hand.

She didn't realize there were tears slipping down her cheeks until she felt William wipe them away, and then kiss her forehead.

He pulled back to look in her eyes, seeing all traces of confusion and anger gone, only to catch one of longing and regret.

"Now what's that look for?"

"I'm sorry," she choked out, starting to cry again, trying to calm down enough to where she could be understood.

"Of course I'll marry you, but it's just...just that this is all my fault that that damn demon and those...that we're getting ready to fight...If I hadn't gone with you, everything w-would've-"

William sat up on his knees, humming Ashokan Farewell and stroking her hair, anything to try and calm her.

"Sshhh, my dear, this is fate...this would happen no matter what, whether you were involved or not," he soothed, although this only served to make her cry harder.

"W-why do I f-feel like I-I'll never s-see you a-again?" she asked, and her saying that set his mind running.

She knew what was going to happen, that he would die. But if he told her that, confirmed it, she would make sure she died in his arms, surrounded by the family she'd came to know.

He didn't want another girl he loved to die in his arms, Christine had been enough, although the circumstances were entirely different. He knew he had to keep lying, just so she'd leave, get to safety before hell descended.

"You will. You'll see me again. I promise."

He looked at Brendon to see the younger vampire shaking his head, as if he was saying, 'just tell her the truth'. William eyes his eyes, wanting to telepathically drill a message into the other's head.

_'If I tell her what is going to happen, that we're all going to die, she'll insist she stay and fight, and then she dies in my arms. I cannot, and will not let that happen.'_

_'Fine. But she needs to go...now. Jon's said Spencer's had another vision...they're only twenty minutes away...'_

_'Did you give her your phone?'_

_'Yeah, she's set. Just get her out of here, now.'_

William nodded, looking back at AJ. She'd calmed down some, but was still looking around nervous about something.

"What's wrong?"

"I can feel it in the air...there's so much tension..." she explained, licking her lips, her lycan side already itching for a fight.

"That's your cue to go. You need to get as far away from here as possible, and if I were you I would phase, you'll cover more ground in your wolf form."

William pulled her to her feet and handed her the backpack, walked her to the front door and opened it, trying not to let his face betray his heart.

"But can't I st-" she pleaded a final time, turning as she stood on the edge of the veranda.

"Go."

"But Wi-"

"GO!"

Her face immediately fell, and he knew she was trying to not start crying again after finally having regained her composure. She turned to walk away, threw the backpack to the ground, and not two seconds later he heard the distinct 'crack' of her phasing, then her howl.

She went to spring into a run, but something made her turn back and look at him, maybe ask just a final time.

And then, the look in her eyes made everything come flooding back. William had gone so long being numb to pretty much everything - the people he thought were close to him, feelings he never knew he had that thanks to Adeline he'd been able to find, memories he thought he'd forgot - and then it was like a one two punch by nostalgia and the delay.

The way she looked at him was like the first time they'd fought in the darkened Chicago alleyways, back when she'd been sent in to kill him.

He knew if he didn't say what he wanted to in the next few seconds, he'd possibly never talk to her again.

"Adeline, wait!" Before she turned back, he ran towards her, automatically running his fingers through her fur, his face directly in front of hers as she licked him, taking the moment for all it was worth.

She stood still as William's hand moved to scratch behind the ear that Amelia had torn, although it was healed perfectly fine now. His other hand went to her muzzle to tip her snout up, and he kissed it, sighing.

"I can't let you go without following the motto you've lived by. And whatever happens, remember - I love you. Now go...I'll be here. I'll find you when this is over. I me-"

Just then Mike came running out, having been inside scanning for the group's approach.

"We've got probably five minutes, William. If Spencer's right, and this is the end, let's be ready."

William turned back to finish saying a final goodbye to Adeline, but she had already disappeared, taking the backpack with her.


	56. When The Sun Goes Down 28

Finally, after hours of waiting, it had arrived. Judgment Day. Everyone was brimming with excitement. As the group loaded up their weapons, they chatted among themselves.

"So, how are we going to work this? We all can't just bum rush the entire house," Ray said as twirled around an electric baton.

"I have an even better question: Amelia, where did you get all of these weapons? I'm sure half of these guns are illegal," Chuck said, shaking his head.

Amelia only smiled.

"I don't care how we split ourselves up. All I know is that that bastard Mike Carden is going to die, and I'll be damned if my face isn't the last thing that he sees before he dies," Mikey declared as he cracked his knuckles.

"Jeeze, Mikey, calm down. We haven't even left yet," Gerard laughed.

"I think Ray is right though, guys. We need a strategy," Seb agreed.

"It's simple: We go there, we kill those bastards, we burn the house down, and then we go on our merry way. What's not to get?" Frank asked as he popped open a blood bag and drank it.

"Sounds good enough to me," David replied, nodding his head. Seb slapped him upside the head.

"Take this seriously, guys. We can't afford to fool around," he said seriously and Bob and Chuck nodded in agreement.

"Well, we can't rush in there all at once for two reasons. One, they're probably expecting us, so we'll need to be smarter than that. Second, we can cover more ground if we split up. Seb, you and your friends will take the back. Gerard, we'll take the front. We can meet somewhere in the foyer. Sound good?" Amelia said, her tactical assassin thinking coming into play.

She was met with nods all around.

"Well, it's settled, then. Let's finish gearing up and let's do this!" she declared.

-

The group left the hotel and walked in the general direction of where they thought the Dandies mansion was. Mikey and Seb kept their noses to the sky, trying to catch a scent that would lead them in the right direction. Eventually, they figured out that they were indeed heading in the right direction.

Soon, the mansion loomed in front of them, sticking out against the dark backdrop of the night like a giant, white beacon. They approached the mansion with caution, when David brought up a good point.

"Hey guys, since they have a clairvoyant vampire on their side, I'm sure they already know that we're coming. Why are we being so careful?" he asked.

"Yeah! Let's just get going!" Frank exclaimed as he ran forward.

"FRANK, STOP!" Pierre suddenly yelled and Frank stopped in mid-motion, his left leg hanging above the ground.

"Why? What's wrong?" he asked, trying his best to stay still.

"Whatever you do, don't move," Pierre said.

"What's wrong, Pierre? There's nothing on the ground," Mikey said, his sharp eyes scanning the ground.

"That's what they want you to think," Pierre muttered quietly.

He held his left arm out with his palm facing out. His right arm was bent across his chest with his pointer and middle fingers pointed up and held across his heart. He slowly moved his right hand outward in a wide arc, and the ground beneath Frank's feet split and fell into the earth, leaving a hole. Across the hole, there was a piece of wire.

Amelia gasped. "Tripwire!" she exclaimed and Pierre nodded.

"If Mikey couldn't even see it, how did you know it was there?" Gerard asked, raising his eyebrow.

Pierre smiled sheepishly. "Part lucky guess, part Earthbending skill. As we were walking, I could feel the wire vibrating. That's why I'm not wearing any shoes. Makes it easier for me to sense the earth," he replied as he wiggled his toes.

"How are we going to get across it?" Bob wondered.

"I'm not sure. It's likely attached to some sort of explosives. We can't risk trying to cut the wire. I don't know what we're going to do," Pierre said as Frank gave a shout.

He became unbalanced and was now falling towards the tripwire. Before he could hit it, Gerard appeared behind him and grabbed him by the back of the shirt. His foot was only centimeters away from hitting the wire. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Gerard grabbed Frank and shoved him back towards the group.

"Frank, we don't need you getting yourself or anyone else killed. For now, just stay by Bob, please," he asked with a sigh.

"So, what are we going to do about the wire?" Chuck asked.

Pierre was silent for a moment before he clenched his hands into claws and made a motion like his was tearing something apart. The earth that was in front of them split, leaving a crevice in its wake. Thankfully, there were no more cables. Everyone was able to safely navigate the path once Pierre made it whole again. Gerard, Mikey, Amelia, Ray, Frank, and Bob stood on the front porch. Sebastien, David, Pierre, Chuck, and Jeff stood on the grass and made their way around to the back.

"Stay safe, you guys," Amelia called behind them, and Seb nodded.

The six of them, now alone, braced themselves. They were in for the fight of their lives.

"I hope they're ready for a firefight," Gerard said as he kicked the door in. It was now, or never.

'_I can't let him fight alone…I don't care what he says, I'm going back,' _AJ thought as she stopped running, skidding on the gravel road she'd been following.

'_I know William's told me I'm not supposed to be there during the battle, but I don't care. He's now my fiancé, I can't….he won't fight alone. He didn't let me tear apart Amelia when I had the chance the first time; I'm not letting him tear anyone apart unless I'm there to back him up.'_

AJ howled and took off at a run back towards the house, but she wasn't sure which way she had come from, and she was somewhat in the middle of the Louisiana backwoods.

'_Great. How the hell am I getting home? Wait…since I'm a dandie now, I can do that telepathic communication thing! Should I even tr-"_

She closed her eyes and tried to focus. Automatically she thought of William, and at once she saw what he was seeing. There was clearly a fight going on, and he clearly had the upper hand.

She could see the demon just outside of his peripheral vision, and she gasped and the demon looked at him and smiled.

"She's in your head, darling. Don't think I can't tell…" the demon replied, walking toward William, lifting a hand towards his face, as if she was readying to strike. AJ blinked, and found herself back in the dark woods, no longer seeing what William was.

'_Alright, that's it, I'm headin-' _before she could finish her thought however, another voice interrupted her thought, communicating telepathically with her, just like the wolves in twilight.

'_Adeline Jeanette, although I'm impressed that you've finally tried telecommunicating, I'd appreciate if you'd find other times asides then when I'm engaged in battle.' _William's voice sounded in her head. She tried to shake her thoughts that she was heading home, she knew that William would know of her intentions.

'_Right…alright. When can I come home? Baby I don't like being out here when you're-'_

'_Adeline, don't you dare tell me you're returning home at an instance such as this! I gave you an order to get yourself to safety, and I expect you to follow it, do I make myself clear?' _he yelled, making her cringe. Wow, he really was mad, and as a downside, he knew.

'_Yes William…I just…I love you!" _she repeated, desperate to advert his anger.

'_And that's all well and expected, but dear, you're to leave me fight until I find you. Now run, dear – enough distance can never be enough.'_

And not heeding his suggestion to run farther away, AJ doubled back and began the long run home, hoping she wouldn't be too late, that she could still join the bloodbath.


	57. When The Sun Goes Down 29

AJ burst in the open door of the house, completely taken aback. The entire house was in disarray, and she immediately began thinking worst case scenario. There were burn marks on the walls, and the furniture was torn up, claws marks running across every piece.

"William?" she called, expecting him to be waiting for her somewhere, as she didn't see anyone. The house was dark, but thanks to her hybrid abilities she could see where she was going, even if a few lamps were still lit.

"Woah…what did-" she backed up, feeling herself trip over something. She knelt on the ground, brushing her hand over whatever it was.

When she looked at her hand, she screamed. It was covered in ash.

And if she was in a house of vampires, ash only meant one thing. Somebody had been staked, and disintegrated. Hoping it wasn't one of the boys, she went deeper into the house, noticing how quiet it was. Had everyone left?

Maybe the upstairs was fine still, maybe, just maybe, William and the others had managed to defeat the others and he'd be up waiting for her, comforter already pulled down, sheets just waiting to be messed up...

AJ lost herself in daydreams, but then she looked at her ring. The thought of the ring meaning so much more than mind control and timed games sent her running up the stairs, skidding to a stop before their bedroom.

But to her horror, it was empty, nothing was disturbed, and everything was as she'd left it the night before.  
>Immediately panic began to well up in her stomach, what if, for once, Remus' lesson had failed? She went back downstairs, into the kitchen, looking for any sort of sign she wasn't alone.<p>

She heard someone humming Ashokan Farewell, and it clicked that it was something William would always hum. Taking off toward the sound, she ran through the riot act in her head he was going to get when she finally collapsed into his arms, thankful to see him alive

_'Well, after I'm done kissing him anyways...' _she added as an afterthought.

As she turned the corner to go into the living room, she saw a figure standing just inside the shadows, just out of reach of the lamp's light. She couldn't tell who it was.

"Brendon? Mike? Guys, quit it, you're scaring me..."

No answer. AJ almost felt sick now, this was way too creepy to end well, and come to think of it, the humming didn't even sound like William!

She looked around, noticing it felt like someone was watching her.

If William was playing some sick game to scare her, she wasn't going to fall for it. Knowing someone was in the shadows, she decided to find out who it was.

Hesitantly walking to the hearth's edge, she reached up and grabbed the air, waiting to grab a fistful of hair, hoping she'd earn some sort of sound so she could tell who it was. Imagine her surprise when she knew who it was not by the sound, but by the appearance.

Stumbling backwards, she tripped and fell, still trying to convince herself she'd hadn't grabbed a handful of fire truck engine red hair.

"Hey guys, looks like AJ's home. Pity she hasn't found Beckett yet," Gerard said, stepping out of the shadows, Amelia beside him.

"W-Where is h-he? What'd y-you do to him?" AJ stuttered, really afraid now. If Gerard and Amelia were still alive...

"Why don't you see for yourself, dear? He's just been waiting for you to come back!" Amelia added, way too happy to be the Amelia AJ knew.

AJ turned on her heels and ran, screaming for Beckett.

"Just wait til' she sees what we've done to him," Frank added from the other side of the room, smirking.

"She'll never know what hit her." Ray reasoned, smiling, although he couldn't help pitying the hybrid somewhat, as what she discovered was going to break her heart, and possibly, whatever remained of her sanity.

As she ran, the group took off after her, knowing where to go to watch her realize what had happened.

* * *

><p>AJ ran into one of the offices, really this was just another parlor like area, but it contained work desks. She noticed the body on the ground, and her breath caught. It looked so familiar. The hair, the bangs. But the eyes were shut. The second she tried walking closer, she heard a growl.<p>

"Glad that son of a bitch is dead. Deserves it for everything he's done." Mikey said, satisfied with the work the group had done, because the battle had certainly been one they weren't going to forget anytime soon.

AJ turned, her eyes brimming with tears, to see Amelia, Gerard, his brother, their friends, and the one Brendon had referred to as the Canadian mutt and his friends standing together across the room.

Now without hesitation, she ran, dropping to her knees as she picked up William's lifeless body and cradled it.

She knew, why he had told her to leave, why he insisted she not stay. He knew he was going to die, and in telling her to leave, choose to keep her alive rather than himself. But why hadn't he just came with her? They could have ran, until the end of the earth - until a safe haven was found, protecting all from harm. AJ almost smiled, remembering how she'd once referred to him as a 'heartless twisted bastard'. Now, as she held his body, she realized he was anything but. He'd sacrificed himself for her, lied to her to keep her safe - they weren't getting married, and the thought only brought tears to her eyes as she looked at the ring.

The ring that his first love had worn, whom he had killed. Oh how she wished she was dead! Then at least, she wouldn't be so...alone. Remus was gone, she'd betrayed Lucian, and now, here, her only love lay in her arms, eyes so full of color but so drained of life.

She couldn't stop the tears from falling, nor could she keep herself from closing William's eyes and then kissing his forehead before gently setting him back down. Now it didn't seem so unsettling, maybe he was sleeping now. But of course, the stake was the only thing that made reality sink in.

"You did this to him?" AJ turned to glare at Mikey and company, not bothering to wipe the tears from her eyes as she stood up.

"Please, you think we were going to let him live? The evil piece of shit," Frank spat, just as AJ retaliated.

"You bastards…you're not going to live after doing this. You don't mess with the Dandies, especially their leader….and my mate."

"Oh, I'm so scared, the little hybrid is mad….what's she gonna do, bark us to death?"

"Take that back! You don't understand! He was…after I lost Remus, and was captured by William the first time five years ago, I felt something change. He understood me, the pain that was losing someone close. And although he controlled my mind the first time, by the time he'd found me again at Slane I knew his feelings had changed. He didn't kill me, to this moment he couldn't. And now he's gone. He had just proposed! He…He was my everything!" AJ managed to say, already feeling anger and sadness welling up as she flashed the ring towards the group, watching their eyes widen in disbelief.

Just looking at William's body, the stake driven into his chest is enough to make her see red. She knows his body won't disintegrate until it's burned, there's an ancient magic that protects the oldest of vampires, whereas younger ones would have turned to dust.

"He's gone, get over it. What's your reason for living now?" Amelia added, stepping forward .The waterbender and both of the onis immediately went to follow her but she held a hand out to stop them.

"I…"

"You don't have one. AJ, listen to yourself. You're still the same girl I knew when I met you, crazy for guys…that's all you care about."

"And what's it to you? What if I killed- oh, wait, you've never known what this feels like! You've NEVER been in love and had it torn away in the blink of an eye! You won't understand this, ever."

"That's not my point. You don't have a reason for living. Come back to the light…"

"If I do, Lucian would kill me. If he knows what I've done, what I've tried to do…"

"Would you rather become a twisted selfish bastard like that thing on the floor?" Ray interjected, motioning to Beckett.

"N-No…he saved me, he's not selfish! But I can't turn back. I've made my choice. I'll just be lonely for the next few millennia, I suppose." AJ reasoned sadly.

"You won't have to be." Amelia said, finally bringing up Lucian's solution to the vow he'd made to Remus shortly before his death.

"What's that mean?"

"I mean…if you truly loved him, you could go with him and in turn redeem yourself…by…letting me kill you."

"Wait-"

"I could kill you, in turn purifying the darkness that's overtaken your heart. Once you die, you'll be reunited with Beckett. If you truly love him as much as you say you do, I can't condemn you to wander the earth alone and miserable while I'm happy and enjoying life."

"You know, that sounds an awful lot like something Remus would have said…" AJ agreed, nodding, "And if this is the best way, I'll take it. Better than most other options out there."

Amelia nodded, grabbing her gun, and AJ's head instantly filled with memories.

* * *

><p><em>She knelt next to a body, the man she'd come to know as a father, unmoving, his body but a shell. She cried, tears of denial that he was really dead, for the lessons he'd taught her. She felt a hand on her shoulder. Looking up, a tall winged demon stood over her. Instantly she curled up into a ball, the demon speaking in English to her.<em>

_"Don't be afraid. I won't hurt you. I-" at that moment the demon transformed into a teenage girl, blue green _  
><em>eyes looking over AJ, concern radiating from her gaze.<em>

_"Was just like you at some point. My name's Amelia. What's yours?"_

_"A-AJ…"_

* * *

><p><em>"Hey Rae, check this out! 25 rounds with a built in scope and night vision! The only thing it's missing is a sign for free blood!" AJ joked, looking over their new weapons.<em>

_"Stop worrying about the vampire attracting ability of it and focus on it's performance as a fatally wounding weapon," Amelia chastised laughing._

_"But if I shoot a vampire in the heart, does that make him mine?"_

_"…I will never understand you."_

* * *

><p>AJ closed her eyes, and then – she could see his face.<p>

His brown eyes were warm, and his hair was longer again, like the first time she'd met him, how he looked  
>the night she'd fallen under his control. William's lips were moving, but she couldn't make out what he was trying to say. She almost thought she could sense him holding out a hand to her, as if he was beckoning her to join him.<p>

She nodded, opening her eyes again, only to see Amelia holding the gun, it cocked and ready to fire. Was it her imagination, or were there tears in her eyes?

"I'm sorry." AJ chokes out, barely managing to get the words past the lump in her throat. Did it always have to be this way? No, no, it didn't. But she'd been corrupted, and even though the source of her corruption was dead, there was no turning back for her.

"Believe me, I am-" Amelia fired her gun without warning, two shots of holy water and silver nitrate entering AJ's body. As the hybrid collapsed to her knees and gasped in pain, her mouth moving in a single word, perhaps a final farewell, Amelia looked down at her body, trying to blink back tears before finishing her sentence, "Too."

After Amelia fired the shots, she was too stunned for words. She wasn't angry. She wasn't sad. She just felt numb. She was staring at her friend's body, transfixed. Sighing, she realized that, even in death, AJ finally looked like she was at peace.

It wasn't until Mikey put his hand on her shoulder that it finally registered, what she had done. She cried for a long time after that.


	58. When The Sun Goes Down 30

Once the whole thing with Beckett calmed down, Amelia went back to California. She closed down the shop and, for a few months, wandered aimlessly around the places she and AJ had gone. It hurt her to know that her best friend was gone, but at the same time, she felt at peace, knowing she was better off dead than someone's brainless minion.

Gerard and the others called her every once in awhile and came to visit, just to make sure she was okay. And she told them she was doing fine, when she really wasn't. It was hard to walk the same roads, go to the same shops, without her best friend by her side. In order to clear her head, she went to visit Sebastien and his friends up in Canada.

When she came back home, she walked down the street slowly, taking everything in. She didn't know what to do. She was truly miserable. She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't even notice that someone was following her.

Suddenly, she felt a hand over her mouth and something was placed over her head. She instinctively struggled, but whomever it was had an iron grip on her. She heard what sounded like someone talking, and then she was being placed on the ground.

"Whoever you are, you'd better let me go!" she demanded, and the person laughed.

"Trust me, Mimi, we're doing this for your own good," said a voice and she immediately knew who had grabbed her.

The blindfold was removed from her eyes and she was staring at Mikey and Gerard's house. Across the front of the house, there was a banner that said "Welcome home, Mimi!" in big, bright letters.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"Well, we've noticed that you haven't been doing so well, so we took it upon ourselves to kidnap you and all your stuff," Mikey started.

"And we've decided that you're going to live with us!" Gerard finished, who was walking up to them.

So the Way brothers let Amelia stay with them, and that's how she relocated to New Jersey permanently. It was nice for her, because she wasn't alone, and it was nice for Mikey, who could keep an eye on her, being the overprotective Lycan that he was.

Eventually, the guys all seemed to settle down with their respective partners, so Amelia moved into her own apartment.

One night, as she was sleeping peacefully, her cellphone rang. She looked at the clock and it was only 3:00 in the morning.

"Hello?" she answered as she wiped the sleep from her eyes.

"Mimi, it's Gerard. Alicia and Mikey are on their way to the hospital. It's time!" yelled Gerard from the other end of the line.

"That's great, Gerard, but -"

"Well, are you coming or not? Come on, get up! I'll have Ray come and pick you up!"

"Gerard -"

"Or you know what, I'll just have Bob teleport, that'll be easier."

"Gerard -"

"Or maybe I'll -"

"GERARD!" she yelled, finally causing the excited vampire to stop talking.

"Gerard, I'm going to tell you what I'm going to do, okay? I'm going to go back to sleep, and I will come to the hospital when it is a reasonable time for me to be awake. I'm sure everything will be fine. I'll see you in a few hours, okay?"

"Okay," he said, sounding slightly disappointed, and hung up.

Amelia rolled over and went back to sleep. The next time she woke up, it was 9:00 in the morning. She showered and then walked over to the local hospital. She was led to the waiting room by a nice little nurse and that was where she found everyone waiting.

The minute that she walked in, Gerard immediately jumped up and started babbling about how long this delivery was taking and why didn't they have cable in the room. She laughed and went to greet everyone else. Even Lucian had made it. A birth in the Lycan community was rare, so he wanted to be sure to see the child.

"I swear to God, Gerard, you had better sit your ass down before you wear a rut in the floor!" Bob exclaimed, who was sitting next to Frank, playing cards. Gerard ignored him.

Sighing, Bob looked at Ray, who just nodded. Ray came up behind Gerard and grabbed him. He physically sat him down in a chair and held him there, just so he couldn't pace. It almost worked, until a nurse came in and said that they could go in and see Mikey and Alicia.

Gerard jumped out of the chair and ran down the hallway. Bob just sighed.

"I swear, the Way brothers are going to be the death of me," he mused and Amelia laughed.

Everyone made their way into the room where Mikey and Alicia were. After lots of hugs and congratulations, everyone got a chance to hold the baby. It was a girl.

"So, do you guys have any plans for a name?" asked Amelia as she sat down and held the little bundle of joy, who was growling playfully.

"Actually, we do. Since she's a feisty little one, we'd like to name her Adeline Jeanette Way, in honor of AJ," Mikey explained as he intertwined his fingers with Alicia's.

Amelia was stunned and humbled. As she gave the baby to Lucian, she got teary-eyed. She could even see tears forming in the old Lycan's eyes.

"Adeline Jeanette. What a fitting name," he remarked quietly. Amelia meanwhile, was lost in thought.

_'I guess friendships really can last a lifetime. I'm sorry AJ…for everything. But now I know you forgive me, and it's time I forgave myself for what I did to you. I'll see you sooner or later, Santi. Keep Beckett and the boys out of trouble wherever you are, alright?"_

As she bowed her head in a moment of silence for her lost friend, and she almost thought she heard AJ's giggle.

_"Don't worry Rae, this mission's going to be easy."_

"Alicia, did you just say something?"

"No, why?"

"I swear I just heard a female voice….it almost sounded like AJ!" she realized.

Everyone looked at her, unsure of what to say.

"That's impossible." Lucian said finally, looking at Adeline.

"What?"

"She just smiled when you said AJ." He explained.

"Newborn babies can't smile." Mikey said, startled of the mention of his daughter smiling.

"Or so you thought." Alicia chimed, she herself smiling.

"Alright, so maybe there's a lot I have to learn…but one thing's for sure, I'm glad I have-" Mikey turned from looking at his wife to everyone in the room, "People like you to share this wonderful life with."

Amelia nodded, Mikey was right. She had friendships that would last a lifetime with the people in this room, and absolutely nothing could change that. And as Amelia got up to hand Adeline back to Mikey, a song she and AJ had listened to years ago managed to weasel its way inside her head.

She knew that the song would be the sort of thing that would put Adeline to sleep, so before she headed down to the hospital's food court, she wrote down the lyrics and gave them to Alicia, wishing her and Mikey all the best for what lay ahead of them.

* * *

><p>"<em>Honey is for bees, silly bear Besides, there's jelly beans everywhere<em>

_It's not what it seems in the land of dreams Don't worry your head just go to sleep_

_When you wake up the world will come around, When you wake up the world will come around…"_


End file.
